Original Post
The courts of limited jurisdiction in my jurisdiction, which is Richmond, Virginia, are referred to as city courts. According to Schmalleger, Worrall, & Siegel (2011), city courts refer to a type of courts that are restricted within a given city or town that are involved in addressing violations of city ordinances but may also be involved in handling minor criminal cases. In other words, this means that the courts are in handling cases that are limited to Richmond City while are expected to handle criminal cases that attract fines of less that $15,000 for minor criminal offences or violations of city ordinances. In Richmond, the city courts are involved in handling all matters arising within the city while seeking to ensure that they create the necessary provisions that would serve as a justification of set out legal principles.
On the other hand, the trial courts within the jurisdiction of Richmond are referred to as circuit courts. As opposed to city courts, circuit courts tend to have legal jurisdiction overall all cases, which can either be categorized as being civil or criminal in nature (Storrow, 2017). The circuit courts in Richmond are expected to handle all cases that go beyond the jurisdiction of the city courts taking into account that some of the cases are beyond the provisions set for the city courts. The criminal justice procedure, used as part of the criminal justice system in Richmond, Virginia, defines the types of cases that ought to be handled by city courts while highlighting those that should be handled by circuit courts. That has helped towards avoiding some form of confusion or overlapping of roles between the two types of courts.
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The appellate court that falls within the jurisdiction of Richmond, Virginia is referred to as the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court of Appeals has a key role to play in hearing and determining appeal cases filed from the lower courts. The court also plays a key role towards defining legal stalemates that relate to the city and circuit courts considering that it is considering as having a higher jurisdiction when compared to the other courts. What I noted from the information that I was able to gather was that the Supreme Court of Appeals covers 9 jurisdictions within Virginia with Richmond being one of them.
After an extensive research about the Supreme Court of Appeals, I noted that it has a total number of 5 justices. It was not clear the number of cases that the justices handle every year considering that most of the cases have not been highlighted in any online platform. However, it was evident that the justices play a critical role in handling cases on all sorts of issues that may either be categorized as being criminal or civil.
The most interesting thing that I was able to learn with regard to my jurisdiction was the fact that it has one appellate court regardless of the fact that the city and circuit courts exceed 50 in number. It was clear that the number of cases being clear by the city and circuit courts was notably high, which means that the number of appeals being filed is significantly high when compared to other jurisdictions. From that perspective, I was able to take note of the fact that most of the appellate court judges find themselves stretched to the limit in terms of what is expected of them.
Replies to Peers
Reply to Cody Reuterskiold
Based on your research, it is evident that the only difference between the courts of limited jurisdiction, to how they are referred to, in the state of West Virginia is the name used. However, both courts hold similar responsibilities of dealing with civil suits that do not exceed more than $15, 000. Additionally, the jurisdiction courts in West Virginia engages in passing sentences on minor criminal cases like check fraud. Additionally, your post enabled me to learn that trial courts are known as circuit court in West Virginia. Also, the circuit courts engage in all manner of cases, whether civil or criminal ones. Another exciting aspect was that the Appellate court is called the Supreme Court of Appeals, and it is among the only nine jurisdictions with a single appellate court. However, I think you could have engaged in detailed research to present the number of cases handled yearly, as required in the question. Overall, the post was educative, and it made me learn more about the Criminal Justice system in West Virginia.
Reply to Dianna Hall
From my initial analysis of your post, I must say that you have provided adequate and valid information with regard to the court structure within the Louisville, Kentucky jurisdiction. However, what I found to be most interesting about your post was the fact that you stated that the district courts, which are courts of limited jurisdiction, only deal with juveniles. In my understanding of district courts, I noted that these are general trial courts; thus, meaning that they do not only handle juvenile cases. The fact that in your jurisdiction one is expected to go through multiple courts does not make the courts unique. In most jurisdictions in the United States, one is expected to go through multiple courts before a case can be considered to have been heard and determined to the maximum.
References
Schmalleger, F., Worrall, J. L., & Siegel, L. J. (2011). Courts and Criminal Justice in America . Pearson Education.
Storrow, R. (2017). Institutionalized mediation and access to justice in the State Court System of the United States. In The Mediation Handbook (pp. 192-199). Routledge.
