Municipal Courts: What To Know The judicial system in the United States is made up of several levels, which span from city level legal matters to national level legal matters that take place in the Supreme Court system. In most cases, people deal with legal matters in what are known as municipal courts. These courts are primarily based in jurisdictions that are limited to a specific community, county, municipality, or an entire city. The court system in a large city is a common example of a municipal court. Knowing what to expect from municipal courts is the first part of understanding what to do when dealing with legal matters in a city.
About municipal courts A municipal court is limited to the jurisdiction where it may operate. The municipal courts have the ability to deal with the citizens and uphold the laws of just one town or city. This means that the municipal court only has the power to handle and conclude legal matters within that district alone. Some municipal courts, however, do overlap with others in neighboring districts, so multiple cases may pass through more than one municipal court.
The municipal court commonly handles cases that generally do not need to be escalated to a higher level of court. Some of the most common cases tried at municipal courts include civil misdemeanors, civil lawsuits, and the perusal of traffic tickets by law enforcement. Other legal matters like building code violations and bereavement cases pass through municipal courts, as well.
What happens in municipal courts? In a municipal court system, city laws are enforced against those who may have broken them. How these laws are upheld is a similar process to how district courts and federal courts defend similar laws.