| Superior Court Of California |
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The Superior Courts of California are the Superior Courts in the U.S. State of California with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a government agency. Each of the 58 Counties in California has a superior court. Until 1998, each California county had a municipal court as well. In that year, Proposition 220 was approved by the state's voters, amending the state's Consitution to allow judges in each county to decide whether or not to retain municipal courts. By 2001, every California county had consolidated its municipal courts into the superior courts. The superior courts are the lowest level of state courts in California holding general jurisdiction on civil and criminal matters. Above them are the six California Courts Of Appeal , each of which hold jurisdiction over several counties, and the Supreme Court Of California . As of 2007, the Superior Courts of California consisted of over 1,500 judges, and make up the largest part of California's judicial system, which is in turn the largest in the United States . Judges are elected by each county's voters to six-year terms. Vacancies on the court are filled by appointments made by the Governor . Because Los Angeles County has the largest population of any county, it also has the largest Superior Court. The Los Angeles County Superior Court is organized into dozens of highly specialized departments dealing with everything from Moving Violation s to Mental Health . It handles over 2.5 million legal matters each year, of which about 4,000 terminate in jury trials; this works out to about 4,300 matters per judge. Its 429 judges are assisted by 140 commissioners and 14 referees. In contrast, many of California's smallest counties—like Alpine, Del Norte, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Mono, and Trinity—typically have only two Superior Court judges each, who are usually assisted by a single part-time commissioner. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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