New York County Court
The County Court of the State of New York is a New York State Unified Court System court of general jurisdiction outside New York City.[1] In New York City, criminal and civil matters are heard in the city Criminal Court and Civil Court, respectively, or the state Supreme Court.
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Jurisdiction
The court has unlimited criminal jurisdiction and civil jurisdiction where the amount in controversy is no more than $25,000.[2] In many counties, this court primarily hears criminal cases (whereas the Supreme Court primarily hears civil cases),[3] and usually only felonies as lesser crimes are handled by local courts.[4]
Structure
A County Court operates in each county except for the five counties of New York City (in those counties, the New York City Courts and Supreme Court operate in place of a typical County Court). Unlike the Supreme Court, each County Court is considered distinct.[2]
The County Court is authorized to establish "appellate sessions", an intermediate appellate court that hears appeals from the inferior courts.[5] Appellate sessions are located in the Third and Fourth Judicial Departments only.[5]
Judges
Judges are elected to ten-year terms.[1]
Appellate procedure
Appeals in civil cases are to the Supreme Court, Appellate Division as of right, and in criminal matters appeals are to the Court of Appeals only by permission of a judge of the Court of Appeals.[5]
Notes
- Constitution of the State of New York Article VI, ยง 10. "a. The county court is continued in each county outside the city of New York. There shall be at least one judge of the county court in each county and such number of additional judges in each county as may be provided by law. The judges shall be residents of the county and shall be chosen by the electors of the county. b. The terms of the judges of the county court shall be ten years from and including the first day of January next after their election."
- Galie 1991, p. 133.
- Gibson & Manz 2004, p. 128.
- Stonecash, Jeffrey M. (2001). Governing New York State (4th ed.). SUNY Press. p. 172. ISBN 0-7914-4888-6. LCCN 00-032955.
- Practice of Law 2012, p. 6.
References
- Gibson, Ellen M.; Manz, William H. (2004). Gibson's New York Legal Research Guide (PDF) (3rd ed.). Wm. S. Hein Publishing. ISBN 1-57588-728-2. LCCN 2004042477. OCLC 54455036.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Galie, Peter J. (1991). The New York State Constitution: A Reference Guide. Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0-313-26156-3. LCCN 90-36627.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- NYSBA Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar; NYSBA Membership Committee (September 2012). The Practice of Law in New York State: An Introduction For Newly-Admitted Attorneys (PDF). New York State Bar Association.