Category:Pennsylvania state courts

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The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania consists of 67 counties. Within each of the counties is a Court of Common Pleas, although some of the smaller counties share one Judge or share facilities, as with Sullivan and Wyoming Counties. This is the primary Trial Body for Pennsylvanians. In 66 of these counties there is a system of Minor Courts called Magisterial District Courts which handle Landlord Tenant matters, civil disputes up to $8,000.00, Summary Offenses, and preliminary hearings for greater offenses. They divide up their Jurisdiction by geographical location. Lehigh County, for example, has 14 such Courts. Curiously, the Judges of these Courts do not have to be Lawyers. The only county that does not have a Magisterial District Judge system is Philadelphia County, which has a Municipal and Traffic Court instead. These Courts hear similar matters to the Magisterial District Courts, but their Jurisdictional limit is $10,000.00. These Judges do have to be Lawyers. All persons have an unlimited right of appeal to from the Minor Courts to the Courts of Common Pleas. The Intermediate Appellate level Courts in Pennsylvania are the Commonwealth Court (for matters involving State Agencies and other related matters) and the Superior Court (for the balance of appeals). The Court of last resort in Pennsylvania is the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.