As always, before reading this post, please review my disclaimer by following the link above or by clicking on this link. As always, any legal principles discussed apply only to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Introduction
Most of you who have been reading my blog for some time have seen me discuss on and off the various trial courts we have in Virginia. This can confuse many people, because most people not familiar with the law do not realize we have three separate and distinct trial courts. I have decided it is time for me to go into more detail, so I've planned a four-week, four part blog series to discuss this. Today, I will provide some basic background for each of the courts and talk about what kinds of cases those courts hear. For the next three weeks, I will go into depth in how civil (so not criminal, which I do not practice) cases are handled from beginning to end in each court.
So what are the three courts anyways?
If you're new to this blog, you may not realize that we have three separate and distinct trial courts in Virginia. The Circuit Court, the General District Court (GDC), and the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (J&DR) are each different courts with (usually) different courtrooms and (always) different judges. The General District Court also has a small claims division, which is the small claims court in Virginia, but that is not a separate court, as the small claims division still meets in General District courtrooms and is overseen by General District Court judges.
The Circuit Court is the "highest" trial court. Its orders hold precedence over conflicting GDC and J&DR orders unless the GDC or J&DR court orders come after the Circuit Court order and the Circuit Court had yielded jurisdiction to the district court. The Circuit Court is also our "court of record," while the GDC and J&DR courts are "courts not of record." This is a distinction that used to be much more meaningful - courts of record would have a record of proceedings kept, while courts not of record would not - but since the advent of computers, most courts not of record still maintain an active record of their proceedings and hold on to exhibits for at least some time.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the Circuit Court and the GDC and J&DR courts are that the Circuit Court is the only trial court in which your case can be heard by a jury. You might think that this is unconstitutional considering the kinds of cases GDC and J&DR can hear (which I will get to shortly), but the reason it is acceptable is that cases from the GDC and J&DR courts can be appealed to the Circuit Court, and when they are, you get a whole new trial in the Circuit Court (as though the GDC or J&DR trial never happened), where you can get a jury.
What kinds of cases does the Circuit Court hear?
So, the Circuit Court is the Virginia trial court of "general jurisdiction." That means the Circuit Court has jurisdiction over all matters that can be heard in a trial court in Virginia. That being said, Circuit Courts have three kinds of jurisdiction: exclusive jurisdiction, concurrent jurisdiction, and appellate jurisdiction.
Cases over which a Circuit Court has exclusive jurisdiction are cases that can only be heard in the Circuit Court. These include, but are not limited to, adult felony trials (including juveniles charged as an adult), divorces, appeals from a ruling of your local Board of Zoning Appeals, almost all lawsuits that are cases "in equity" (for a brief, albeit incomplete, explanation of cases "at law" vs. cases "in equity" you can review this blog post), and almost all lawsuits for money where the base amount of compensatory damages being sought is more than $25,000.
Cases over which a Circuit Court has concurrent jurisdiction are cases that can be filed either in the Circuit Court or in a lower court, at the discretion of the person filing (although there are some rules about how this actually works). These cases include, but are not limited to, child support cases between married parents who are getting divorced (concurrent with the J&DR court), child custody/visitation cases between married parents who are getting divorced (concurrent with the J&DR Court), spousal support cases (concurrent with the J&DR court; in the Circuit Court this can come in the form of a divorce or a complaint for "separate maintenance"), and almost all lawsuits for money where the base amount of compensatory damages being sought is at least $4,500 but no more than $25,000 (concurrent with the GDC).
Finally, cases over which a Circuit Court has appellate jurisdiction are cases that must first be heard in a lower court, but can then be heard in the Circuit Court on appeal. These cases include, but are not limited to, criminal misdemeanor trials, juvenile felony trials (where the juvenile was not charged as an adult), protective order cases, any concurrent jurisdiction case where the case was initiated in the lower court, and almost all lawsuits for money where the base amount of compensatory damages being sought is at least $50 but no more than $4,499.
What kind of cases does the General District Court hear?
So, unlike the Circuit Court, the General District Court is a court of "specific jurisdiction." This means it can only hear cases specifically assigned to it by the Code of Virginia.
The General District Court hears preliminary hearings for all adult felony cases (except where the defendant is a juvenile, even if that juvenile is being charged as an adult) and hears criminal trials for all misdemeanors where the defendant is an adult and the victim (if there is one) is not a member of the defendant's family.
On the civil side, the General District Court's small claims division can hear any lawsuit for money where the amount being sought is $5,000 or less. Outside the small claims division, the General District Court can hear any lawsuit for money where the amount being sought is $25,000 or less. The General District Court can also hear unlawful detainer cases (lawsuits for eviction) in commercial landlord/tenant matters even when the amount in controversy is more than $25,000.
Finally, the other big area where the General District Court has jurisdiction is over protective orders where the defendant is not considered a "family member" (with that definition being as explained in this blog post) of the plaintiff.
The GDC has jurisdiction over a number of other matters, but those are the big ones.
What kind of cases does the J&DR Court hear?
The J&DR Court is also a court of "specific jurisdiction," though its jurisdiction is over a much broader array of cases than the GDC. Pretty much any case you can think of involving children or domestic relations (other than divorce) can be heard in the J&DR court.
Some of the big ones that the J&DR court hears are preliminary hearings for felony cases where the Commonwealth seeks to charge a juvenile as an adult, full criminal trials for felonies committed by juveniles who are not charged as adults, full criminal trials for misdemeanors where the defendant is a juvenile or where the defendant and the victim are related (regardless of the age of the defendant), child support cases (regardless of the relationship between the parents), child custody/visitation cases (regardless of the relationship between the parents), spousal support cases, termination of parental rights cases, juvenile consent for abortion cases (cases where a pregnant juvenile wishes to have an abortion and her parents are withholding consent), and protective order cases between parties that are considered "family members" (under the definition discussed in my previous blog post).
J&DR Courts also hear cases to make the findings of fact necessary for an undocumented, unaccompanied, non-citizen minor who lives in Virginia to be eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status - a type of green card available to unaccompanied minors that has become a major source of interest in recent months, as Virginia has taken in a large number of the unaccompanied children that had crossed the southern border last year.
Again, these are not the only cases J&DR Courts hear, but in my experience, they are the biggest.
How do appeals from GDC and the J&DR court work?
So, almost every trial in the GDC and J&DR courts can be appealed to the Circuit Court. When an appeal is taken to the Circuit Court, the case is tried in the Circuit Court de novo, meaning the whole thing is done again, and the Circuit Court pretends no trial in the lower court ever happened (as opposed to an appeal from the Circuit Court to the Court of Appeals or the Virginia Supreme Court, where you must prove the Circuit Court did something wrong in order to get a new trial). In order to take an appeal, it must be a case eligible for appeal (again, this is nearly every case the lower courts hear, although in a lawsuit for money, for example, the difference between what you wanted and what the lower court ordered must be at least $50), and you must file your notice of appeal within 10 days of the judgment of the lower court being entered.
In many civil cases, however, that does not complete your appeal - you also must "perfect" your appeal by filing an appeal bond. If you were the civil plaintiff below, your appeal bond is usually only a filing fee ($130 or so). If you were the defendant, however, and it was a lawsuit for money, or a support case that found you had an arrearage, your appeal bond is usually going to be the full amount the court ruled you owe, and if you don't pay that bond to the court, you cannot appeal.
Your appeal bond is generally due within 30 days from the date the lower court judgment is entered, although in unlawful detainer cases, if you are the defendant, your appeal bond is due within the same 10 days that your notice of appeal is due.
Conclusion
Virginia's trial court system can be very confusing for someone who is not an attorney - this is why I am doing this four part series. Fortunately, attorneys are allowed to appear in all three courts, and while technically you cannot have an attorney in the GDC small claims division, if you are sued there you can get an attorney and move the case to outside the small claims division. If you are considering filing a case and cannot figure out where it should be filed, you should strongly consider consulting an attorney. If your case is in one of my firm's practice areas (family law, landlord/tenant law, contract law, etc.), you can call (703)281-0134 or e-mail me at SLeven@thebaldwinlawfirm.com to set up a consultation. Our initial consultations are free for up to half an hour!
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