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Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law
Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
 jurisdictions. Originally it meant a court that would hold sessions in multiple locations within its judicial district; the judge or judges would travel in a circuit in order to adjudicate cases across a wide area. Especially on the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 frontier
Frontier

A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a Border....
, a judge might travel alone on horseback along with a group of lawyers. Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
 was one such attorney who would ride the circuit in Illinois.






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Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law
Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
 jurisdictions. Originally it meant a court that would hold sessions in multiple locations within its judicial district; the judge or judges would travel in a circuit in order to adjudicate cases across a wide area. Especially on the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 frontier
Frontier

A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a Border....
, a judge might travel alone on horseback along with a group of lawyers. Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
 was one such attorney who would ride the circuit in Illinois. In more settled areas, a stagecoach
Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of four-wheeled closed coach for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand....
 would be used. Eventually the legal caseload in a county would become great enough for a local judiciary. Most of these local judicial circuits have been thus replaced.

United States


Federal courts

The United States circuit court
United States circuit court

The United States circuit courts were the original intermediate level courts of the United States federal court system. They were established by the Judiciary Act of 1789....
s were United States federal courts established in each federal judicial district
United States federal judicial district

For purposes of the United States federal court system, United States Congress has divided the United States into judicial districts. There is at least one district in each U.S....
. These circuit courts exercised both original
Original jurisdiction

The original jurisdiction of a court is the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review a lower court's decision....
 (first instance) and appellate jurisdiction
Appellate jurisdiction

Appellate jurisdiction is the power of a court to review decisions and change outcomes of decisions of lower courts. Most appellate jurisdiction is legislatively created, and may consist of appeals by leave of the appellate court or by right....
. They existed from 1789 to 1912. The original jurisdiction formerly exercised by the United States circuit courts is now exercised by the United States district court
United States district court

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both Civil law and Criminal law cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, Equity , and admiralty....
s, and their appellate jurisdiction is now exercised by the United States courts of appeals
United States court of appeals

The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate Court of Appealss of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the United States district courts within its United States federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agency....
.

The name "circuit court" is also informally used to refer to the existing United States court of appeals
United States court of appeals

The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate Court of Appealss of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the United States district courts within its United States federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agency....
. Those courts were officially known as United States circuit courts of appeals from their establishment in 1894 until their name was changed to United States courts of appeals in 1947.

State courts


In some U.S. state
U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
s, including Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
, Kentucky
Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a U.S. state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of Southern United States , but it is uncommonly included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwestern United States....
, Oregon
Oregon circuit courts

Oregon's circuit courts are general jurisdiction trial courts of the U.S. state of Oregon. These courts hear civil law and Criminal law court cases....
, Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
 and many of the southern states, the state court
State court

In the United States, a state court has jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U.S. state. Cases are heard before and evidence is presented in a trial court, which is usually located in a courthouse in the county seat....
 of superior
Superior court

In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases....
 general original jurisdiction
Original jurisdiction

The original jurisdiction of a court is the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review a lower court's decision....
 is known as the "circuit court".

In Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
, for example, a circuit court is a court of record
Court of record

In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a judicial tribunal having attributes and exercising functions independently of the person of the magistrate designated generally to hold it, and proceeding according to the course of common law, its acts and proceedings being enrolled for a perpetual memorial....
 that has appellate jurisdiction over a county's general district court
General District Court

A General District Court is the court most Virginians have contact with. It hears traffic cases and other misdemeanors, as well as sole authority to try civil claims involving amounts of $4,500 or less....
 and juvenile and domestic relations court
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court

A Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, in Virginia, handles all cases involving juvenile crime, child abuse or child neglect, disputes involving custody and visitation, and other family-related matters, as well as cases in which a child or family member is an alleged victim ....
 and original jurisdiction over major civil cases and all the county's felony
Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the United States and previously other common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors....
 cases. A circuit court has the power to issue death sentence
Death Sentence

"Death Sentence" is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov....
s and impanel grand juries
Grand jury

In the common law, a grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether there is enough evidence for a Criminal procedure. Grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by a prosecutor and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing Wiktionary:presentments....
. The court's decisions become legal precedent
Precedent

In common law Legal systems of the world, a precedent or authority is a legal case establishing a principle or rule that a court or other judicial body adopts when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts....
s.

In many states, such as Missouri
Missouri

Missouri is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska....
, a judicial circuit can encompass one or more counties (see Missouri Circuit Courts
Missouri Circuit Courts

The Missouri Circuit Courts are the State court trial courts of original jurisdiction and general jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Missouri....
). Each circuit court can have several divisions, including circuit, associate, small claims
Small claims

Small claims could refer to:* Small claims court* Small Claims , an Australian series of television movies....
, probate
Probate

Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will....
, family or drug court. Each division hears cases within its particular area of subject-matter jurisdiction
Subject-matter jurisdiction

Subject-matter jurisdiction is the authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter. For instance, bankruptcy court has the authority to only hear bankruptcy cases....
, and jurisdiction is based on the size or type of a civil claim, or the severity or type of a criminal charge. Drug court
Drug court

Drug courts are judicially supervised court dockets that handle the cases of nonviolent substance abusing offenders under the adult, juvenile, family and tribal justice systems....
, for example, hears only drug-related criminal cases.