Houston Criminal Attorney
Structure of the State of Texas and United-States Federal Court System
STATE OF TEXAS COURT SYSTEM
Local Trial Courts
The State of Texas divides up their courts into several different levels of jurisdiction and authority. At the lowest level are the Justice of the Peace (J.P.) courts. These courts are designed to handle both small claims (Under $5,000) and Class C Misdemeanors, and are generally friendly to non-lawyers. No long, drawn-out legal documents need to be filed, and the parties can generally state their positions orally in front of the J.P., and most people represent themselves without the presence of a lawyer.
At the local trial level, there are also Municipal Courts, which handle traffic violations and fine-only criminal offenses. Municipal courts are divided into "No-Record" and "Record" courts, both being user-friendly and are mostly handled without a lawyer.
County Courts
Appeals of a decision by a Justice of the Peace or Municipal Court of No Record are handled by the County Court of Appeals for a completely new trial, or a trial de novo. Appeals resulting from the decision of a Municipal Court of Record are handles by the County Court based on imperfections in the record of the original trial rather than a completely new trial. Most County Courts or County Courts of Law in Texas are limited in their scope of damages that they can award to an individual, regardless of the amount that the jury hands down. However, in several large cities, such as Houston and Dallas, the County Court Systems have unlimited jurisdiction and can hear a case of any size.
District Courts
District Courts are the true backbone of the state judicial system. They were originally created to handle only the really big cases, and thus they can handle cases of any size, shape or form. District Courts handle cases based on their district within the State of Texas, and they handle felony criminal cases, family law cases, divorces, child support, and many types of civil cases. In many counties the District Judge handles the entire spectrum of cases; but in the larger and more populous counties the District Courts are broken down according to their specialty.
Appellate Courts
Once a case had been handles in either a County or District Court, it can be appealed to one of the 14 Appellate Courts within the State, depending on where the case originated.
If an appeal is denied by the Appellate Courts, than one can have a final appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal cases or the Texas Supreme Court for civil cases. However, just like the United States Supreme Court, these two bodies actually hear a small portion of the cases that are sent to them. Therefore, if they refuse to hear your particular case, your case is considered closed at that point.
UNITED STATES FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM
Trial Courts
The United States Federal Court System is broken up into three levels, with the lowest level being the Trial Court. There are 94 federal districts in the United States, and their respective Federal District Court hears nearly all categories of federal cases, both civil and criminal - including bankruptcy. Every state in the Union, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and dependant territories has at least one district court that is dedicated to that area.
There are two special trial courts that have nationwide jurisdiction - The Court of International Trade handles cases involving international trade and customs issues. The Court of Federal Claims handles all claims against the Federal Government, including disputes over federal contracts, unlawful seizures of private property by the government, and a variety of claims against the federal government.
Appellate Courts
The 94 federal districts are combined at this level to make 12 regional circuits, each of which is equipped with a United States Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals handles appeals from within their respective districts, as well as appeals of decisions handed down by various government agencies. In addition, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals from the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims.
United States Supreme Court
The United States Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States (the nation's highest judge) and eight associate judges who are appointed by the President and confirmed by Congress for life terms on the bench. The Supreme Court hears a limited number of the cases that are presented for review. Those cases may begin in either the state or federal court system, and are usually involve important questions about the Constitution or Federal law.
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