District Court Of Minnesota
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The District Court of Minnesota is the
state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
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). ...
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 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 ...
of
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
.


Jurisdiction of the court

The
Minnesota Constitution The Constitution of the State of Minnesota was initially approved by the residents of Minnesota Territory in a special election held on October 13, 1857, and was ratified by the United States Senate on May 11, 1858, marking the admittance of Min ...
provides that the district court 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
civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...
and
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 ...
cases and such
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 ...
as may be prescribed by law. Appeals from these courts usually go to the
Minnesota Court of Appeals The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over most appeals from the State court (United State ...
. Minnesota Court Rule 146 creates a Complex Case Program (CCP) in the district courts, assigning complex cases to a single judge from beginning to end. Per Rule 146.01, the CCP's objective is promoting "effective and efficient judicial management of complex cases in the district courts, avoid unnecessary burdens on the court, keep costs reasonable for the litigants and to promote effective decision making by the court, the parties and counsel." In addition to the single assigned judge highly involved in case management throughout the litigation process, the CCP's core principles involve mandatory disclosures of information, setting firm trial dates, and requiring judicial and staff education and training in complex case management. A number of district courts have expedited civil litigation track programs, sometimes referred to as the "
rocket docket A rocket docket is a court or other tribunal that is noted for its speedy disposition of cases and controversies that come before it, often by maintaining strict adherence to the law as pertains to filing deadlines, etc. The term was originally ap ...
". These include district courts in Dakota and St. Louis Counties (since 2013), Hennepin and Olmstead Counties (since 2016), and the entirety of the Sixth Judicial District (since 2019). The rocket docket is typified by early judicial involvement, limited discovery, curtailed continuances, and the setting early trial dates. The program is mandatory, but assigned parties can seek to opt out. The first two pilot project judges were
Jerome B. Abrams Jerome B. Abrams is an American judge who served as a district court judge in Minnesota for 14 years. He has been involved with studying and implementing changes to the civil litigation process in Minnesota and nationally. Judicial service In ...
in Dakota County and Eric Hylden in St. Louis County. In May 2024, the Supreme Court expanded the rocket docket program statewide, giving all judicial districts without the docket an opportunity to opt-in to the program.


Structure of the court

It is common to refer to the "district courts" in the plural, as if each court in each judicial district is a separate court; this is the usage found in Chapter 484 of the Minnesota Statutes, which governs the jurisdiction, powers, procedure, organization, and operations of the district court. However, the Minnesota Constitution only refers to "a district court" in the singular (as a single statewide court). As the Court of Appeals has recognized, "Minnesota trial benches were consolidated into a single district court." In 2019 there were 289 judges of the district court in Minnesota.''District Courts''
Minnesota Judicial Branch. Retrieved November 1, 2019. They are assigned to geographic districts. Each district has three or more judges, who are elected by the voters of the district in
nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...
judicial elections to six-year terms. Candidates file for a specific judgeship by seat number. Vacancies are filled by appointment of the
governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
. The
chief judge Chief judge may refer to: In lower or circuit courts The highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. * Chief judge (Australia) * Chief judge (United States) In supreme courts Some of Chief ...
and assistant chief judge of each district are elected from judges of that district to exercise general administrative authority over the courts of the district. The chief justice of the
Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...
has the power to assign judges from one district to serve in another. There are ten judicial districts, each comprising one or more of Minnesota's 87 counties:


References


External links


Minnesota District Courts - Minnesota Judicial Branch
{{Government of Minnesota Minnesota state courts 1858 establishments in Minnesota Courts and tribunals established in 1858