In the Nevada state court system, the Nevada District Courts are the

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Mos ...

s of

general jurisdiction {{Globalize, article, USA, 2name=the United States, date=December 2010 A court of general jurisdiction is a court with authority to hear cases of all kinds – criminal, civil, family, probate, and so forth. United States All federal courts ar ...

, where criminal, civil, family, and juvenile matters are generally resolved through arbitration, mediation, and bench or jury trials. The District Courts also hear

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

s from the

limited jurisdiction Limited jurisdiction, or special jurisdiction, is the court's jurisdiction only on certain types of cases such as bankruptcy, and family matters. Courts of limited jurisdiction, as opposed to general jurisdiction, derive power from an issuing autho ...

state courts, which are composed of 17 Municipal Courts (which handle involving

traffic ticket A traffic ticket is a notice issued by a law enforcement official to a Driving, motorist or other road user, indicating that the user has violated Traffic, traffic laws. Traffic tickets generally come in two forms, citing a moving violation, suc ...

and

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

violations of ordinances occurring within the

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...

incorporated municipalities A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local government, local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) city, cities, county, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be use ...

) and 45 Justice Courts (which handle misdemeanor crime and traffic matters,

small claims Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may b ...

eviction Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgage ...

s, and other civil matters in which the

amount in controversy Amount in controversy (sometimes called jurisdictional amount) is a term used in civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular cour ...

is less than $10,000, as well as

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

and

gross misdemeanor In United States law, a gross misdemeanor is a crime which is more serious than a regular misdemeanor, but is still classified as a minor crime, as opposed to serious crimes. Such crimes may include petty theft, simple assault or driving under th ...

arraignment Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisd ...

s and

preliminary hearing Within some criminal justice, criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing, preliminary examination, preliminary inquiry, evidentiary hearing or probable cause hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecuto ...

s to determine if sufficient evidence exists for a trial in the District Court). Appeals from the Nevada District Courts are taken directly by the

Supreme Court of Nevada The Supreme Court of Nevada is the highest state court of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the head of the Nevada Judiciary. The main constitutional function of the Supreme Court is to review appeals made directly from the decisions of the district ...

. Following a deflective model of appeals, the Supreme Court of Nevada has discretion to assign cases to the three-member Court of Appeals. It is expected that most cases will be finally resolved by the Court of Appeals, from which further appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court of Nevada only in extraordinary cases. There are 82 judges sitting in 11 district courts, each covering one or more of Nevada's 16 counties and one independent city:Nev. Rev. Stat. 3.011 et seq.
/ref> *First Judicial District –

Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...

(

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

) and

Storey County Storey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,104, making it the third-least populous county, but one of the fastest-growing economies in Nevada. In 2018, over 18,000 people were emplo ...

. 2 judges. *Second Judicial District – Washoe County. 15 judges (6 family court, 9 civil/criminal court). *Third Judicial District – Lyon County. 2 judges. *Fourth Judicial District –

Elko County Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County. Elko County is the fourth ...

. 3 judges. *Fifth Judicial District –

Esmeralda County Esmeralda County is a county in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 729, making it the least populous county in Nevada. Esmeralda County does not have any incorporated communities. Its ...

and

Nye County Nye County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,591. Its county seat is Tonopah. At , Nye is Nevada's largest county by area and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, behi ...

. 2 judges. *Sixth Judicial District – Humboldt County. 1 judge. *Seventh Judicial District –

Eureka County Eureka County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 1,855, making it the second-least populous county in Nevada. Its county seat is Eureka, Nevada, E ...

, Lincoln County, and

White Pine County White Pine County is a largely rural, mountain county along the central eastern boundary of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,030. Its county seat is Ely. The name "(Rocky Mountain) white pine" is an old ...

. 2 judges. *Eighth Judicial District – Clark County (serves the

Las Vegas metropolitan area The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area i ...

and is the largest of the judicial districts). 52 judges (20 family court, 32 civil/criminal court). *Ninth Judicial District – Douglas County. 2 judges. *Tenth Judicial District – Churchill County. 1 judge. *Eleventh Judicial District -

Pershing County Pershing County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,650. Its county seat is Lovelock. The county was named after army general John J. Pershing (1860–1948). It was formed from Humboldt County ...

Lander County Lander County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,734. Its county seat is Battle Mountain. History Lander County was created in 1862 as the result of a mining boom on the Reese River along the ...

, and Mineral County. 1 judge.

References

{{reflist Nevada state courts Courts and tribunals with year of establishment missing