Local Courts
There are the big courts that everybody knows about like the Supreme Court and federal courts, but not many people have too much knowledge about their local courts. Even though these courts are very close to where they live, there are several citizens that do not know the difference between the city court and county court nearby. There are some differences between a city court and county court, but there are also a number of similarities as well. Here are some similarities and differences between the city court and county court right down the road.
1. While a city should technically be a part of the jurisdiction of a county court, there is usually a city court to deal with city problems due to the high density of people in the area. While it sounds like a good idea to have one court handling everything, the fact is that there isn’t the time or the space to have everyone from a city court go to the county court in their area.
2. There are instances where a county court will actually handle citizens from multiple counties. In areas with low populations, it is natural that one court is used instead of a separate one for ever one hundred people. On the other hand, it is rare that a city court will handle anyone’s case other than those from within the city itself. There may have been times where someone from the surrounding area may have had to visit the city court rather than the county court, but those are probably few and far between, unless they have committed a crime in that city of course.
3. The functions of a city court and county court are essentially the same. They handle small claims (under $5000) and anything below $25,000 as well. They also deal with civil disputes. One difference is that a city court would probably face many more landlord disputes than a county court would. On the other hand, county courts will also handle appeals from time to time. This is something that city courts do not see as often.
4. In big cities, such as New York City for example, there might be several courts that handle the population’s legal issues. New York City has a court for each borough, as if they were their own counties. This is not something that is done frequently, but it is logical for them to do so because of their extremely large population.
The city court and county court have their minor differences, but basically they serve the same purpose. If you are one of the people that did not know the difference between the two before, you can now say with confidence that you know slightly more. Hopefully you won’t be having to set foot in one soon, but if you do, you will know why you are losing your house in a county court as opposed to a city court.
