Maryland District Court

The District Court of Maryland is a state lower trial court (court of original jurisdiction) in the state of Maryland.[1] It enjoys limited jurisdiction over "minor issues," including over all landlord-tenant law cases, replevin actions (the recovery or return of wrongfully taken goods), motor vehicle violations, misdemeanors such as disturbing the peace, and certain felonies.[1][2] The District Court does not conduct jury trials.[2]

It is a single state court with multiple locations,[1] even though it is typically referred to by the county in which it sits, such as the "Allegany County District Court."[1] The court sits in at least one location in each county, with multiple places of sitting in Baltimore City and some large suburban counties.[3] While counties must typically pay many of the expenses for the local Maryland Circuit Court, the state always pays for the operations of the District Court.[1] There is at least one district judge in each county and in the city of Baltimore.[1]

The court exercises exclusive jurisdiction over civil cases with claims of less than $5,000.[2] It exercises jurisdiction concurrent with the Maryland Circuit Court in civil cases with an amount in controversy between $5,000 and $30,000.[2]

The District Court was created by a state constitutional amendment and came into existence in July 1971 to replace a "hodgepodge" system of local justices of the peace, magistrates, and People's Courts.[1][2]

Some appeals from District Court are heard by the Circuit Court, although most are heard by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and the Maryland Court of Appeals.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gibbs Smith, Maryland Government (2010), pp. 125, 128, 129, 166 ISBN 9781586858988
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 State of Maryland, District Court of Maryland
  3. ↑ Locations, District Court of Maryland


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.