Court of Common Pleas

Court of Common Pleas may refer to several different courts:

England and Wales and Ireland:

• Court of Common Pleas (England)
• Court of Common Pleas (Ireland)

United States: four types of state trial courts still in existence, all with names stemming from English common law:

• Delaware Court of Common Pleas: Delaware state court of limited jurisdiction sitting in all three counties. It hears misdemeanor criminal cases; preliminary hearings for felony criminal cases; and civil cases with a stated value up to $50,000.
• Ohio Courts of Common Pleas: Ohio state court of general jurisdiction hearing both criminal and civil matters. A Courts of Common Pleas is located in each of Ohio's counties. Judges are elected at large.
• Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas: Pennsylvania state court of general criminal and civil jurisdiction, organized by judicial district comprising one or two counties. Judges are elected at large.
• South Carolina Court of Common Pleas: The civil division of the South Carolina Circuit Court, a court of general jurisdiction. (The Court of General Sessions, which hears criminal matters, is the other division). Circuits organized by judicial district comprising two or more counties.

Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Indiana once had courts called Court of Common Pleas but have since abolished them and merged its functions with other courts:

• In Rhode Island, the Courts of Common Pleas were eliminated in 1893.
• In Massachusetts, the Courts of Common Pleas were eliminated in 1859 and replaced with the Superior Courts.
• In New York, the New York Court of Common Pleas were eliminated (except in New York City) following the 1847 reorganization of the state courts, and were abolished in the City in 1885.
• In New Jersey, the Courts of Common Pleas were eliminated when the most recent New Jersey State Constitution was adopted in 1947.
• In Indiana, the Court of Common Pleas was eliminated in 1873.
• In Maine, the Circuit Court of Common Pleas, which existed in Massachusetts for jury trials, continued in Maine under the Act of Separation and Constitution of Maine until 1822, when the Maine Legislature created a Court of Common Pleas, consisting of a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices, as a court of limited jurisdiction, to hold jury terms throughout the State. The Court of Common Pleas was abolished by the Legislature in 1839, when the District Court was established instead.
• In New Hampshire, the Court of Common Pleas and the Superior Court of Judicature were abolished in 1813.

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