General jurisdiction
General jurisdiction is a term used to describe courts that do not have limits on the type of cases they can hear. Cases typically originate in general jurisdiction courts, and their decisions can be appealed to intermediate appellate courts.
A court whose subject matter is limited to certain types of cases (e.g., family cases or traffic cases) is referred to as a court of limited jurisdiction.
Unlike limited jurisdiction judges, general jurisdiction judges may hand down types of sentences that are not normally available for such cases. In a probate (limited jurisdiction) court, for example, a judge who sentenced someone to jail could be sued for overstepping his jurisdiction. A general jurisdiction judge, on the other hand, would face no such retribution for assigning a criminal penalty to a probate case.[1]
External links
Footnotes
