In United States jurisprudence, Court of Common Pleas is a court of certain jurisdiction. It stems from the Court of Common Pleas in the English legal system and was brought to the United States by the colonial settlers along with the rest of the English common law tradition.
In the United States legal system, there are at least four states which currently have Courts of Common Pleas. Other states, such as New York and New Jersey, once had such a court but have since abolished it and merged its functions with other courts. In New York, the Court of Common Pleas was eliminated following the 1847 reorganization of the state courts; in New Jersey, the Court of Common Pleas was eliminated when the most recent New Jersey State Constitution was adopted in 1947.
The states that today have courts of common pleas are:
- Delaware: A statewide trial court of limited jurisdiction sitting in all three counties, handling misdemeanor criminal cases; preliminary hearings for felony criminal cases; and civil cases with a stated value up to $50,000.00. Judges are appointed by the Governor to 12-year terms.
- Ohio - Ohio Courts of Common Pleas. The trial court of general criminal and civil jurisdiction, located in each of Ohio's counties. Judges are elected at large.
- Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas. The trial court of general criminal and civil jurisdiction, sitting in all of the state's counties and organized by judicial district. Most judicial districts are coterminous with the county in which the district is located, but some counties with smaller population share a judicial district (and therefore a court) with an adjacent county. Judges are elected at large.
- South Carolina: In South Carolina, the Court of Common Pleas is part of the Circuit Court for each judicial circuit of the state, and is trial court of general civil jurisdiction, sitting in all counties in the state and organized by judicial circuits. By contrast, the trial court of general criminal jurisdiction is referred to as the Court of General Sessions.[1]
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
