Data Explorer: Institutional Structure of Courts | 50 State Criminal Justice Debt Tool

Structure of Courts

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Below are all of the laws that govern the structure of courts that match your search criteria.

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	State	Statute	Description/Statute Name	Statutory language	Court/legal body	Function
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Louisiana	La. Const. Art. 3 Sec. 9	District courts - elected judges	Section 9. Each circuit shall be divided into at least three districts, and at least one judge shall be elected from each. The circuits and districts and the number of + See more judges as elected in each circuit on the effective date of this constitution are retained, subject to change by law enacted by two-thirds of the elected members of each house of the legislature.	District Courts	Creation of the courts
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Louisiana	La. Const. Ann. art. V, § 20	Justice of the Peace/Mayor's Court - subject to change by law	Mayors' courts and justice of the peace courts existing on the effective date of this constitution are continued, subject to change by law.	Justice of the Peace Courts/Mayor's Courts	Creation of the courts
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Alabama	Ala.Code 1975 § 12-23A-4(a)(1)	Drug court - establishment of	The presiding judge of each judicial circuit, with the consent of the district attorney of that judicial circuit, may establish a drug court or courts, under which drug offenders shall + See more be processed, to appropriately address the identified substance abuse problem of the drug offender as a condition of pretrial release, pretrial diversion, probation, jail, prison, parole, community corrections, or other release or diversion from a correctional facility. The structure, method, and operation of each drug court may differ and should be based upon the specific needs of and resources available to the judicial district or circuit where the drug court is located, but shall be created and operate pursuant to this chapter and in compliance with rules promulgated by the Alabama Supreme Court.	Drug Court	Creation of the courts
Add to Dashboard + Create New	California	Cal. Con. art. VI, § 2	Supreme Court; justices; time for convening; concurrence required for judgment; acting Chief Justice	The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice ofCalifornia and 6 associate justices. The Chief Justice may convene the court at any time. Concurrence of 4 judges present at + See more the argument is necessary for a judgment. An acting Chief Justice shall perform all functions of the Chief Justice when the Chief Justice is absent or unable to act. The Chief Justice or, if the Chief Justice fails to do so, the court shall select an associate justice as acting Chief Justice.	Supreme Court	Creation of the courts
Add to Dashboard + Create New	California	Cal. Con. art. VI, § 3	Courts of appeal; districts; divisions; power; concurrence required for judgment; acting presiding justice	The Legislature shall divide the State into districts eachcontaining a court of appeal with one or more divisions. Each division consists of a presiding justice and 2 or more associate justices. + See more It has the power of a court of appeal and shall conduct itself as a 3-judge court. Concurrence of 2 judges present at the argument is necessary for a judgment. An acting presiding justice shall perform all functions of the presiding justice when the presiding justice is absent or unable to act. The presiding justice or, if the presiding justice fails to do so, the Chief Justice shall select an associate justice of that division as acting presiding justice.	Court of Appeals	Creation of the courts
Add to Dashboard + Create New	California	Cal. Con. Art. VI, Sec. 4	Superior courts; officers and employees; appellate divisions	In each county there is a superior court of one or morejudges. The Legislature shall prescribe the number of judges and provide for the officers and employees of each superior + See more court. If the governing body of each affected county concurs, the Legislature may provide that one or more judges serve more than one superior court. In each superior court there is an appellate division. The Chief Justice shall assign judges to the appellate division for specified terms pursuant to rules, not inconsistent with statute, adopted by the Judicial Council to promote the independence of the appellate division.	Superior Court	Creation of the courts
Add to Dashboard + Create New	Texas	Tex. Const. Art. 5 Sec. 1	Judicial power; courts in which vested	The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one Supreme Court, in one Court of Criminal Appeals, in Courts of Appeals, in District Courts, in County Courts, in + See more Commissioners Courts, in Courts of Justices of the Peace, and in such other courts as may be provided by law. The Legislature may establish such other courts as it may deem necessary and prescribe the jurisdiction and organization thereof, and may conform the jurisdiction of the district and other inferior courts thereto.	State courts	Creation of the courts

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