District Courts Hear Infraction Cases

District courts also hear infraction cases. These are not considered to be criminal cases, they are mainly punishable by fines. If a person is convicted by of an infraction, he or she may appeal the conviction resulting in a bench trial in superior court.

“The superior court”, also a trial court, “has general trial jurisdiction” (North Carolina Judicial Department Administrative Office of the Courts), holding court at minimum of twice a year in each county. “The State is divided into superior court districts for both electoral and administrative purposes” (North Carolina Judicial Department Administrative Office of the Courts). In review, the superior courts hear civil cases of more than $10,000, felony criminal cases, and appeals of

District court judges serve for terms of four years while superior court judges serve eight year terms, and must live in the same district he or she serves. “Administrative superior court district has a senior resident superior court judge who manages the administrative duties of the court. There also are “special” superior court judges appointed by the governor for five-year terms, who are not required to live in a particular district but who otherwise have all of the authority of a resident superior court judge” (North Carolina Judicial Department Administrative Office of the Courts). “In each superior court district, the most senior judge (longest serving) is the “senior resident superior court judge” (North Carolina Judicial Department Administrative Office of the Courts). He or she is responsible for many things such as; appointing magistrates and some other officials, and schedules civil case trials. A district court has a similar senior judge called a chief district court judge, however instead of being appointed based on years of service, he or she is appointed to the position by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The duties of this office are to create schedules of district court sessions and assign judges to preside, as well as supervising magistrates. In order to maintain fairness and impartiality,

Most appeals start here, with a few exceptions such as trial de novo, which must be heard in superior court first. “The Court of Appeals also hears appeals from administrative agencies of the state, such as a decision by the State Bar to punish an attorney for misconduct or decisions of the Industrial Commission to award or deny worker’s compensation to an injured or disabled worker” (North Carolina Judicial Department Administrative Office of the Courts). This court has fifteen judges. They preside over cases in panels of three. “One of the judges is the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court” (North Carolina Judicial Department Administrative Office of the Courts). In the intermediate court of appeals, cases heard can range from parking tickets to murder cases. Appeals cases come to this court from district courts or superior courts. There are no juries in these cases. Cases not resolved here may then submit an appeal to the state supreme court. In some cases an appeal may bypass the intermediate court of appeals and go directly to the Supreme Court. One such example would be a conviction for a first degree murder case where the party was sentenced to the death