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A county court is a
court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
based in or with a
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...
covering one or more counties, which are
administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
s (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high sheriff of each county.


England and Wales

Since 2014,
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...
have had what is officially described as "a single civil court" named the County Court, with unlimited financial jurisdiction. However it should be understood that there are County Court buildings and courtrooms throughout England and Wales, not one single location. It is "a single civil court" in the sense of a single centrally organised and administered court ''system''. Before 2014 there were numerous separate county court systems, each with jurisdiction across England and Wales for enforcement of its orders, but each with a defined "county court district" from which it took claims. County court districts did not have the same boundaries as counties: the name was used because the county courts had evolved from courts which did in fact correspond to a county's territory. Today the court sits in many County Court centres, currently corresponding to the old individual county courts. County Court matters can be lodged at a court in person, by post or via the Internet in some cases through the County Court Bulk Centre. Cases are normally heard at the court having jurisdiction over the area where the claimant lives. Most matters are decided by a district judge or circuit judge sitting alone. Civil matters in England (with minor exceptions, e.g. in some actions against the police) do not have juries. Judges in the County Court are either former barristers or former solicitors, whereas in the High Court they are more likely to have formerly been a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...
. Civil claims with an amount in controversy under £10,000 (the Jackson Reforms have increased this from £5,000) are dealt with in the County Court under the
small claims track 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 ...
(sometimes known to the lay public as "small claims court," although it is not a separate court). Claims between £5,000 and £25,000 (£15,000 for cases started before April 2009) that are capable of being tried within one day are allocated to the "fast track" and claims over £25,000 (£15,000 for cases started before April 2009) to the "multi track." These 'tracks' are labels for the use of the court system - the actual cases will be heard in the County Court or the High Court depending on their value. For personal injury, defamation, and some landlord-tenant dispute cases the thresholds for each track have different values. Appeals are to a higher judge (a circuit judge hears district judge appeals), the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...
or to the Court of Appeal, as the case may be. In debt cases, the aim of a claimant taking County Court action against a defendant is to secure a
County Court judgment Description In England and Wales, County Court judgments (CCJs) are legal decisions handed down by the County Court. Judgments for monetary sums are entered on the statutory Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, which is checked by credit re ...
. This is a legal order to pay the full amount of the debt. Judgments can be enforced at the request of the claimant in a number of ways, including requesting the court bailiffs to seize goods, the proceeds of any sale being used to pay the debt, or an Attachment of Earnings Order, where the defendant's employer is ordered to make deductions from the gross wages to pay the claimant. County Court judgments are recorded in the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines and in the defendant's credit records held by credit reference agencies. This information is used in consumer
credit score A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit b ...
s, making it difficult or more expensive for the defendant to obtain credit. In order to avoid the record being kept for years in the register, the debt must be settled within thirty days after the date the County Court judgment was served (unless the judgment was later set aside). If the debt was not fully paid within the statutory period, the entry will remain for six full years.


Australia

County court is the name given to the intermediate court in one
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
, namely the
County Court of Victoria The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states. The County Court is the principal trial court in the state, having a broad criminal and ci ...
(in other states and territories it is called the 'District Court'). They hear indictable (serious) criminal offences except for
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
,
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...
, and
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
. Their civil jurisdiction is also intermediate, typically over civil disputes where the amount claimed is greater than a few tens of thousands of dollars but less than a few hundreds of thousands of dollars. The limits vary between states. In some states the same level of court is called a district court. Below them are the magistrates courts. Above them are the state
supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
s. Some states adopt the two-tier
appellate 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 ...
system, with the magistrates courts below and the state supreme courts above.


Northern Ireland

In
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
there are seven county courts, following the same model as those of
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...
before unification in 2014. These are the main civil courts. While higher-value cases are heard in the High Court, the county courts hear a wide range of civil actions, consumer claims, and appeals from magistrates' courts. The county courts are called family care centres when hearing proceedings brought under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and appeals from the family proceedings courts.


United States

Many
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
states have a county court system which, least common, may be purely administrative (such as in
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
), focused primarily on registration of properties and deeds, or, most often, may have
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...
over civil cases such as lawsuits and
criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...
courts and jails (such as in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, et cetera) where trials from misdemeanors to felony cases are centered about a common jail system managed by the county sheriffs departments. For example, in Texas, county courts exclusively handle Class A and B misdemeanors (these carry jail time as well as fines), share jurisdiction with justice of the peace and district courts on some mid-size civil cases, and have appellate jurisdiction from municipal and justice of the peace court cases. With the growth of the largest cities, many large urban centers have subsumed whole or most of counties within the unofficial or official municipal borders, blurring the distinction between the types of government and their jurisdictions in the mind of the common inhabitant, but even television police drama's occasionally point out a county function (coroners, sheriffs, jails, courts, probation departments) different from a metropolis' police agencies, city governments, and district attorney's (prosecutors) offices (politically elected or appointed in most of the United States). In those states with an administrative county court, the body acts as the executive agency for the local government. For example, Harry S. Truman was county judge of
Jackson County, Missouri Jackson County is located in the western portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 717,204. making it the second-most populous county in the state (after St. Louis County). Although Independence retains ...
in the 1930s, an executive position rather than a judicial post. The County Commissioners in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts manage the county government, including funding civil and criminal courts, jails and Sheriffs departments overseeing said jails, as well as recording deeds, maintaining county roads and the like. In point of fact, each state has adjusted local governments powers and interactions to suit their own needs, so no one model is uniform even within the same state when the county is interfacing with a major city. In counties of
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
, the primary legislative body was called a county court until the ratification by the voters of the state of the constitutional amendments of 1978, which change the term for this body in all but consolidated city-counties to county commission. Colloquially, the county commission is still frequently referred to as the "county court", particularly in rural areas. (The analogous body in consolidated city-counties is the metropolitan county council, usually shortened to "Metro council".) Likewise, five counties in Oregon are governed by a county court. In
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
's four-tiered court system, the lower two tiers split
original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the Su ...
for both criminal and civil matters. broadly speaking, the jurisdiction of "county courts" is limited to misdemeanors and civil actions involving amounts in controversy less than $15,000.00, while the "circuit courts" handle felonies and larger civil cases.


Municipal blendings

In the states that have a judicial county court, such as New York, it generally handles trials for felonies, as well as appeals of
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 ...
s from local courts and some small claims cases. It is a court of
original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the Su ...
, and thus handles mostly trials of accused felons. The New York County Court "is established in each county outside New York City. It is authorized to handle the prosecution of all crimes committed within the County. The County Court also has limited jurisdiction in civil cases ...." More specifically, the New York County Court is: In New York City, the New York City Criminal Court handles such jurisdiction.New York State Court System official website New York City Criminal Courts web pages
Accessed May 26, 2009. Otherwise in the United States, the courts of original jurisdiction in most states have jurisdiction over a particular county, parish, shire, or borough (comparable area entities in the various states of the USA); in other cases, instead of being called "county court" they are called "district courts" or "circuit courts" with a hierarchy of state "superior court" districts up to that state's 'supreme court'. Multiple courts of typically limited original jurisdiction within a county are usually called "district courts" or, if located in and serving a particular municipality, "municipal courts"; and are subordinate to the county superior or circuit court. In New York, 'superior'/'circuit' courts are called "supreme court". The court that in other US jurisdictions is called "supreme court" is called "court of appeal" in New York, Maryland and the District of Columbia.


Ireland

Prior to 1924, the county courts were the main civil courts in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, having jurisdiction over most civil matters, except for the larger actions which were heard by the High Court of Justice in Ireland or the
assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ...
. Its jurisdiction was similar to that of the county courts in England and Wales. However, they differed from those court in their procedures. Claims were initiated by way of ''civil bill''. Most matters were tried by a county court judge, and where necessary, a jury. The main administrative officer of the county court in each county was the Clerk of the Crown and Peace. The Courts of Justice Act 1924 abolished the county courts in the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
and transferred their jurisdiction (together with that of the quarter sessions) to the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court is still based on the organisational structure established for the county courts and the main administrative officer of each circuit is now called the County Registrar. County courts continue to exist in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
. Civil bills are still used as the initiation document for Circuit Court/county court claims in both Irish jurisdictions, unlike in England and Wales.


See also

* List of County Court venues in England and Wales *
County court bailiff County Court bailiffs are employees of Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service and are responsible for enforcing orders of the County Court by recovering money owed under County Court judgments. Bailiffs can seize and sell goods to recover the ...
* Judiciary of England and Wales * Judiciary of New York


Footnotes

{{Reflist Judiciaries