us district court hears both civil and criminal cases.
us district court hears both civil and criminal cases.
what kind of cases does us district court hear?
both civil and criminal cases
Na
Na
as a practical example of court jurisdiction, as of 2013 utah has five types of courts, each for different legal matters and different physical territories. one-hundred-and-eight judges oversee justice courts, which handle traffic and parking citations, misdemeanor crimes, and most small claims cases. seventy-one judges preside over district courts, which deal with civil cases exceeding small claims limits, probate law, felony criminal cases, divorce and child custody cases, some small claims, and appeals from justice courts. twenty-eight judges handle juvenile court, which oversees most people under 18 years old who are accused of a crime, as well as cases of alleged child abuse or neglect; serious crimes committed by 16 or 17 year old persons may be referred to the district courts. seven judges in the appeals court hear most criminal appeals from district courts, all appeals from juvenile court and all domestic/divorce cases from district court, as well as some cases transferred to them by the supreme court. the supreme court seats five judges who hear appeals on first-degree felonies (the most serious) including capital crimes, as well as all civil cases from district court (excepting divorce/domestic cases). the supreme court also oversees cases involving interpretation of the state constitution, election matters, judicial conduct, and alleged misconduct by lawyers. this example shows how matters arising in the same physical territory might be seen in different courts. a minor traffic infraction originating in orem, utah is handled by the orem justice court. however, a second-degree felony arrest and a first-degree felony arrest in orem would be under the jurisdiction of the district court in provo, utah. if both the minor traffic offense and the felony arrests resulted in guilty verdicts, the traffic conviction could be appealed to the district court in provo, while the second-degree felony appeal would be heard by the appeals court in salt lake city and the first-degree felony appeal would be heard by the supreme court. similarly for civil matters, a small claims case arising in orem would probably be heard in the orem justice court, while a divorce filed by an orem resident would be heard by the district court in provo. the above examples apply only to cases of utah state law; any case under federal jurisdiction would be handled by a different court system. all federal cases arising in utah are under the jurisdiction of the united states district court for the district of utah, headquartered in salt lake city, utah, and would be heard in one of three federal courthouses.
jurisdiction