Superior Courts 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 also had one or more municipal courts and "justice of the peace" courts, which were both courts of inferior jurisdiction created pursuant to the Municipal and Justice Courts Act of 1947. Prior to that, the state had as many as six types of inferior courts, but the 1947 act reduced the number to two.

Prior to 1998, the state had been phasing out the use of justice courts after a landmark 1974 decision in which the Supreme Court of California unanimously held that it was a violation of due process to allow a non-lawyer to preside over a criminal trial which could result in incarceration of the defendant.^[1]

In 1998, Proposition 220 was approved by the state's voters, amending the state's Constitution 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 violations 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.