State court

State court is a court established by state rather than federal law. It is typically a court of general jurisdiction, except when established by state law to handle only a particular type of claim, such as small claims court. State courts handle over 98% of all litigation in the United States.

Overview

A typical state court system has four levels:

• a trial court of limited jurisdiction, typically called a district court, a municipal court, or a justice court;
• a trial court of general jurisdiction, typically called a superior court or a circuit court (chancery courts in the states that still have them are on this level);
• an intermediate appellate court; and
• a state supreme court.

Traditionally, the trial court of limited jurisdiction has handled non-jury trials for traffic offenses, misdemeanors, and civil lawsuits seeking damages up to a certain amount, while the trial court of general jurisdiction has handled felonies, civil lawsuits seeking damages above a certain amount, jury trials, and (in states not having separate courts of equity) cases seeking equitable relief. However, there is a trend toward consolidation of the first two levels into a single level of trial courts.

Typically, all state courts except the trial court of limited jurisdiction are courts of record. In states where the lower-level trial court is not a court of record, when a decision of such a court is appealed to the higher-level trial court, the higher-level trial court hears the matter de novo, as there is no record on which to base an appeal.

By state

California

For a more detailed treatment, see California Judiciary.

Maryland

The Maryland judiciary includes:

• district courts, which sit in the county seats and, in more populous counties and Baltimore City, other locations;
• circuit courts, which sit in the county seats;
• the Court of Special Appeals, which is the state's intermediate appellate court; and
• the Court of Appeals, which is the state supreme court.

New Jersey

The New Jersey judiciary includes:

• the municipal courts;
• the Superior Court, which is the trial court of general jurisdiction for both law and equity;
• the Tax Court, a specialized court;
• the Appellate Division of the Superior Court, which is the state's intermediate appellate court; and
• the Supreme Court.

The municipal courts sit in every municipality, although smaller municipalities in a county may share a judge, and are under the supervision of the Superior Court. Unusually, the Superior Court, not the municipal courts, functions as the Small Claims Court.