North Carolina Municipal Court Information

The state of North Carolina is divided into 100 counties. North Carolina ranks 28th in land mass for all the states in the United States, but ranks seventh in having the most number of counties in the whole country.

North Carolina has a rich history that spans over 340 years. The fascinating history of North Carolina begins from the year 1668 with the establishment of its first county called Albemarle County. The year 1911 is considered to be the end of the history with creation of two counties called Hale and Avery. Within this period five counties were abolished or divided. The last county that got abolished is Dobbs County in the year 1791.

North Carolina Court System

The state of North Carolina practices a unified court system. This unified court system is referred to as the General Court of Justice. The North Carolina Court of trials constitutes four different types of courts, namely:

•    Superior Courts http://www.nccourts.org/Courts/Trial/Superior/Default.asp
•    District Courts http://www.nccourts.org/Courts/Trial/District/Default.asp
•    The North Carolina Business Courts http://www.ncbusinesscourt.net/
•    Family Courts http://www.nccourts.org/Citizens/CPrograms/Family/Default.asp

Municipal courts of every state hear cases of public health, sanitation, violation of rules and traffic. Since the state has a unified court system the cases of the North Carolina municipal court are heard in the Superior Courts. Thus the superior courts and the district courts are the divisions of General Court of Justice.

The North Carolina Business Court is a special division of the North Carolina court that is headed by the judges of the superior court. These judges handle complex commercial and business cases.

Like every other state in the United States, superior courts have general jurisdiction in hearing civil and criminal appeals. Superior courts hear appeals of those cases which fall beyond the jurisdiction of the district courts. Normally the district courts have restricted jurisdiction over certain types of criminal as well as civil cases.

North Carolina Family Courts

The General Court of Justice of North Carolina has created another division called the family courts. The family courts are held within some district courts in order to handle mental health, domestic relations, divorce and juvenile cases which are otherwise heard by the district court or superior courts.
  

The Structure of North Carolina Courts

The court structure in the state of North Carolina is as follows:

•    North Carolina Supreme Court, which is the highest court of the state.
•    North Carolina Court of Appeals where exclusive appeals are made after they are turned down by the superior court or district courts.
•    North Carolina Superior Court is the highest court within one or more counties and hears cases that are beyond the jurisdiction of the district courts. There are Superior Courts for 46 districts of North Carolina.
•    North Carolina District Courts which hears cases from the civil, criminal, family and juvenile divisions under its specified jurisdiction. North Carolina District Court is located in 45 districts of the state.
   
North Carolina also has federal courts too. There are three federal courts located in the eastern, middle and western districts of North Carolina.

Specific North Carolina Municipal Court Information:

Raleigh Municipal Court