The Delaware Court of Common Pleas are state courts of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. The Delaware Court of Common Pleas are

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 heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

s and inferior courts of

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 auth ...

. It has

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

throughout the state over all

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 admi ...

s, except certain drug offenses, and

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...

offenses (see

traffic court Traffic court is a specialized judicial process for handling traffic ticket cases. In the United States, people who are given a citation by a police officer can plead guilty and pay the indicated fine directly to the court house, by mail, or on ...

). The Court of Common Pleas also holds

preliminary hearing In common law jurisdictions, 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 prosecutor, to determine whether the ...

s in

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 r ...

cases, In civil matters, Court of Common Pleas tries

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

s 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 cou ...

does not exceed $50,000 (

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 ma ...

), petitions for

name change Name change is the legal act by a person of adopting a new name different from their current name. The procedures and ease of a name change vary between jurisdictions. In general, common law jurisdictions have looser procedures for a name chan ...

, habitual offender hearings on the privilege of operating a motor vehicle, and administrative appeals from the Division of Motor Vehicles. The Court of Common Plea also has

appellate jurisdiction An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

of criminal matters from Alderman's Courts and criminal and civil matters from the Justice of the Peace Courts. The Superior Court of Delaware is the court of

general jurisdiction A court of general jurisdiction, in the law of the United States, is a court with authority to hear cases in law and in Equity (law), equity of all kinds – criminal law, criminal, civil law (common law), civil, family law, family, probate, and oth ...

in Delaware. It has

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 S ...

in all felony cases and civil suits in which the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Appeals from the Court of Common Pleas generally go to the Superior Court. The Court currently consists of nine judges sitting in Delaware's three counties: Five in New Castle County, two in Kent County, and two in Sussex County. The Court has three problem-solving court divisions: A Drug Diversion Program, a Community Dispute Resolution Program, and a Mental Health Court.

References

External links

Official website
Delaware state courts Courts and tribunals with year of establishment missing {{Delaware-stub