Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School
50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
50-State Criminal Justice Debt Reform Builder Bringing transparency to areas of significant legal complexity.
Structure of Courts
Keyword search across all of the laws in the states. Subject-area tabs above allow you to narrow results. Click the advanced search for further refinement.
Every law can be saved to the Reform Builder
See conflicts of interest policy recommendations in CJPP’s Policy Guide
Function
Below are all of the laws that govern the structure of courts that match your search criteria.
39 Results
| State | Statute | Description/Statute Name | Statutory language | Court/legal body | Function | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-24-1-2 | Jurisdiction (Supreme Court) |
(a) The supreme court has jurisdiction in appeals coextensive with the state and has jurisdiction as provided by the Constitution of the State of Indiana.(b) The supreme court has exclusive + See morejurisdiction to:
(1) admit attorneys to practice law in all courts of the state; and
(2) issue restraining orders and injunctions in all cases involving the unauthorized practice of the law;
under rules and regulations as the supreme court may prescribe.
|
Supreme Court | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-26-3-1 | Limited jurisdiction (Tax Court) |
The tax court is a court of limited jurisdiction. The tax court has exclusive jurisdiction over any case that arises under the tax laws of Indiana and that is an + See moreinitial appeal of a final determination made by:(1) the department of state revenue with respect to a listed tax (as defined in Ind. Code § 6-8.1-1-1); or
(2) the Indiana board of tax review.
|
Tax Court | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-28-1-2 | Jurisdiction (Circuit Courts) |
(a) All circuit courts have:(1) original and concurrent jurisdiction in all civil cases and in all criminal cases;
(2) de novo appellate jurisdiction of appeals from city and town courts; and
(3) + See morein Marion County, de novo appellate jurisdiction of appeals from township small claims courts established under Ind. Code § 33-34.
(b) The circuit court also has the appellate jurisdiction that may be conferred by law upon it.
|
Circuit Courts | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-29-1-1.5 | Jurisdiction (Superior Courts) |
All standard superior courts have:(1) original and concurrent jurisdiction in all civil cases and in all criminal cases;
(2) de novo appellate jurisdiction of appeals from city and town courts; and
(3) + See morein Marion County, de novo appellate jurisdiction of appeals from township small claims courts established under Ind. Code § 33-34.
|
Superior Courts | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-31-1-1 | Creation and establishment of court (St. Joseph County Probate Court) |
There is established a probate court in St. Joseph County known as the St. Joseph Probate Court. The court shall be presided over by one (1) judge to be chosen + See moreas provided in this chapter.
|
Probate Court | Creation of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-31-1-9 | Jurisdiction (Probate Courts) |
All probate courts have:(1) original and concurrent jurisdiction in all civil cases and in all criminal cases;
(2) de novo appellate jurisdiction of appeals from city and town courts; and
(3) in + See moreMarion County, de novo appellate jurisdiction of appeals from township small claims courts established under Ind. Code § 33-34.
|
Probate Court | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-34-1-2 | Creation (Marion County Small Claims Courts) |
(a) There are established township small claims courts in each county containing a consolidated city.(b) The name of each court shall be the “_______ Township of Marion County Small Claims + See moreCourt” (insert the name of the township in the blank).
|
Small Claims Court | Creation of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-35-1-1 | Authority to establish or abolish; election of judge; notice (City or Town Court) |
(a) During 2006 and every fourth year after that, a second or third class city or a town may by ordinance establish or abolish a city or town court. An + See moreordinance to establish a city or town court must be adopted not less than one (1) year before the judge's term would begin under section 3 of this chapter.(b) The judge for a court established under subsection (a) shall be elected under Ind. Code § 3-10-6 or Ind. Code § 3-10-7 at the municipal election in November 2007 and every four (4) years thereafter.
(c) A court established under subsection (a) comes into existence on January 1 of the year following the year in which a judge is elected to serve in that court.
(d) A city or town court in existence on January 1, 1986, may continue in operation until it is abolished by ordinance.
(e) A city or town that establishes or abolishes a court under this section shall give notice of its action to the division of state court administration of the office of judicial administration under Ind. Code § 33-24-6.
|
City or Town Court | Creation of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-35-2-3 | City court; criminal jurisdiction |
A city court has the following jurisdiction over crimes, infractions, and ordinance violations:(1) Jurisdiction of all violations of the ordinances of the city.
(2) Jurisdiction of all misdemeanors and all infractions.
(3) + See moreIf the city that established the city court has entered into an interlocal agreement described in Ind. Code § 33-35-1-6 with another city or a town, jurisdiction of all other ordinance violations described in the interlocal agreement.
|
City or Town Court | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Indiana | Ind. Code § 33-23-16-11 | Establishment of court (Problem Solving Courts) |
A city court or county court may establish a problem solving court. A problem solving court established under this section may be a:(1) drug court;
(2) mental health court;
(3) family dependency + See moredrug court;
(4) community court;
(5) reentry court;
(6) domestic violence court;
(7) veteran's court; or
(8) any other court certified as a problem solving court by the Indiana judicial center under section 17 of this chapter.
|
City or Town Court | Creation of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.04.010 | Jurisdiction |
The supreme court shall have original jurisdiction in habeas corpus and quo warrantor and mandamus as to all state officers, and appellate jurisdiction in all actions and proceedings excepting that its appellate jurisdiction shall not extend to civil actions at law for the recovery of money or personal property when the original amount in controversy or the value of the property does not exceed the sum of two hundred dollars, unless the action involves the legality of a tax, impost, assessment, toll, municipal fine, or the validity of a statute. The supreme court shall also have power to issue writs of mandamus, review, prohibition, habeas corpus, certiorari, and all other writs necessary and proper to the complete exercise of its appellate and revisory jurisdiction. Each of the judges shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus to any part of the state, upon petition by or on behalf of any person held in actual custody, and may make such writs returnable before himself or herself, or before the supreme court, or before any superior court of the state, or any judge thereof.
|
Supreme Court | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.06.030 | General powers and authority--Transfers of cases--Appellate jurisdiction, exceptions--Appeals |
Subject to the provisions of this section, the court shall have exclusive appellate jurisdiction in all cases except:(a) cases of quo warrantor, prohibition, injunction or mandamus directed to state officials; (b) criminal cases where the death penalty has been decreed; (c) cases where the validity of all or any portion of a statute, ordinance, tax, impost, assessment or toll is drawn into question on the grounds of repugnancy to the Constitution of the United States or of the state of Washington, or to a statute or treaty of the United States, and the superior court has held against its validity; (d) cases involving fundamental and urgent issues of broad public import requiring prompt and ultimate determination; and (e) cases involving substantive issues on which there is a direct conflict among prevailing decisions of panels of the court or between decisions of the supreme court;
|
Court of Appeals | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.08.010 | Original jurisdiction |
The superior court shall have original jurisdiction in all cases in equity, and in all cases at law which involve the title or possession of real property, or the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, toll or municipal fine, and in all other cases in which the demand or the value of the property in controversy amounts to three hundred dollars, and in all criminal cases amounting to felony, and in all cases of misdemeanor not otherwise provided for by law; of actions of forcible entry and detainer; of proceedings in insolvency; of actions to prevent or abate a nuisance; of all matters of probate, of divorce and for annulment of marriage, and for such special cases and proceedings as are not otherwise provided for; and shall also have original jurisdiction in all cases and of all proceedings in which jurisdiction shall not have been by law vested exclusively in some other court, and shall have the power of naturalization and to issue papers therefor. Said courts and their judges shall have power to issue writs of mandamus, quo warrantor, review, certiorari, prohibition and writs of habeas corpus on petition by or on behalf of any person in actual custody in their respective counties. Injunctions and writs of prohibition and of habeas corpus may be issued on legal holidays and nonjudicial days.
|
Superior Courts | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.08.020 | Appellate jurisdiction |
The superior courts shall have such appellate jurisdiction in cases arising in courts of limited jurisdiction in their respective counties as may be prescribed by law. |
Superior Courts appellate jurisdiction | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.30.010(1) | Findings--Scope of therapeutic court programs |
The legislature finds that judges in the trial courts throughout the state effectively utilize what are known as therapeutic courts to remove a defendant's or respondent's case from the criminal and civil court traditional trial track and allow those defendants or respondents the opportunity to obtain treatment services to address particular issues that may have contributed to the conduct that led to their arrest or other issues before the court. Trial courts have proved adept at creative approaches in fashioning a wide variety of therapeutic courts addressing the spectrum of social issues that can contribute to criminal activity and engagement with the child welfare system.
|
Therapeutic Courts | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 3.66.060 | Criminal jurisdiction |
The district court shall have jurisdiction: (1) Concurrent with the superior court of all misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors committed in their respective counties and of all violations of city ordinances. It shall in no event impose a greater punishment than a fine of five thousand dollars, or imprisonment for one year in the county or city jail as the case may be, or both such fine and imprisonment, unless otherwise expressly provided by statute. It may suspend and revoke vehicle operators' licenses in the cases provided by law; (2) to sit as a committing magistrate and conduct preliminary hearings in cases provided by law; (3) concurrent with the superior court of a proceeding to keep the peace in their respective counties; (4) concurrent with the superior court of all violations under Title 77 RCW; (5) to hear and determine traffic infractions under chapter 46.63 RCW; and (6) to take recognizance, approve bail, and arraign defendants held within its jurisdiction on warrants issued by other courts of limited jurisdiction when those courts are participating in the program established under RCW 2.56.160.
|
District Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 3.50.010 | Municipal court authorized in cities of four hundred thousand or less |
Any city or town with a population of four hundred thousand or less may by ordinance provide for an inferior court to be known and designated as a municipal court, which shall be entitled The Municipal Court of .......... (insert name of city or town), hereinafter designated and referred to as municipal court, which court shall have jurisdiction and shall exercise all powers by this chapter declared to be vested in the municipal court, together with such other powers and jurisdiction as are generally conferred upon such court in this state either by common law or by express statute.
|
Municipal Court | Creation of the courts, Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 3.50.020 | Jurisdiction |
The municipal court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over traffic infractions arising under city ordinances and exclusive original criminal jurisdiction of all violations of city ordinances duly adopted by the city and shall have original jurisdiction of all other actions brought to enforce or recover license penalties or forfeitures declared or given by such ordinances or by state statutes. A hosting jurisdiction shall have exclusive original criminal and other jurisdiction as described in this section for all matters filed by a contracting city. The municipal court shall also have the jurisdiction as conferred by statute. The municipal court is empowered to forfeit cash bail or bail bonds and issue execution thereon; and in general to hear and determine all causes, civil or criminal, including traffic infractions, arising under such ordinances and to pronounce judgment in accordance therewith. A municipal court participating in the program established by the administrative office of the courts pursuant to RCW 2.56.160 shall have jurisdiction to take recognizance, approve bail, and arraign defendants held within its jurisdiction on warrants issued by any court of limited jurisdiction participating in the program.
|
Municipal Court | Jurisdiction of the courts |
|
Add to Dashboard
|
Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 2.06.010 | Court of appeals established--Definitions |
There is hereby established a court of appeals as a court of record. |
Court of Appeals | Creation of the courts |