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North Carolina District Court 21
| Local Courts |
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| Trial courts and judges |
| Elections by state |
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The North Carolina District Court 21 resides in North Carolina. It serves Anson, Richmond, and Scotland counties. North Carolina House Bill 259 law restructured the superior court and district courts of the state in 2024. The law changed the name of the court from North Carolina District Court 16A to North Carolina District Court 21.[1]
Click on the links below to learn more about the court's...
Jurisdiction
This court holds the following jurisdiction:[2]
| “ | Superior Courts
The Superior Courts are the general jurisdiction trial courts for the state. All felony criminal cases, civil cases involving more than $10,000 and misdemeanor, and infraction appeals from District Court are tried in Superior Court. A jury of 12 hears the criminal cases. In the civil cases, juries are often waived. The Superior Court is divided into eight divisions and 46 districts across the state. Judges are elected to 8-year terms, and rotate every six months between the districts within their division.[3] |
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Selection method
- See also: Judicial selection in the states
- See also: Partisan election of judges
The 98 judges of the North Carolina Superior Courts are chosen in partisan elections to serve eight-year terms. From 1998 through 2016, elections for superior court judges were nonpartisan; however, on March 23, 2017, the North Carolina legislature changed the method of election to partisan elections by overriding Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of HB 100. This change was effective with the 2018 superior court elections.[4][5][6][7][8]
The chief judge of each superior court is chosen by seniority.[9]
Qualifications
To serve on a superior court, a judge must be:
Judicial elections in North Carolina
- See also: North Carolina judicial elections
North Carolina is one of 11 states that uses partisan elections to select judges and does not use retention elections for subsequent terms. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.
Primary election
The judges of the North Carolina Superior Courts are chosen through partisan elections. Judges are elected to eight-year terms and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[10]
The judges of the North Carolina District Courts are chosen through partisan elections. District judges serve four-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.[11][10]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "North Carolina House Bill 259," accessed February 22, 2024
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "Judicial Branch," accessed May 19, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Carolina," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Session Law 2015-292: House Bill 8," October 29, 2015
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Veto override means voters will know judges’ party affiliations," March 23, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Bill 100," accessed May 5, 2017
- ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "Session Law 2018-121, House Bill 717," accessed August 30, 2019
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgeneral - ↑ 10.0 10.1 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | School of Government, "History of North Carolina Judicial Elections," August 2020
- ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "North Carolina Constitution - Article IV," accessed September 20, 2021 (Section 19)
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina
State courts:
Supreme Court of North Carolina • North Carolina Court of Appeals • North Carolina Superior Courts • North Carolina District Courts
State resources:
Courts in North Carolina • North Carolina judicial elections • Judicial selection in North Carolina
