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What Are Common Pleas

What Are Common Pleas

A court of common pleas is a court that has a smaller range of jurisdiction in the United States. In some cases a court of common pleas can have jurisdiction anywhere between 1 to 3 counties in a State. This is a very small type of court system, and one that has been disbanded by a number of states within the United States. 
For the states that still have a court of common pleas, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, these courts typically hear smaller civil cases, smaller criminal cases and the beginnings of felony trials. The felony trials can then move up to the higher courts such as the superior courts or the Supreme Court of the United States. 
A court of common pleas is often utilized for the judgment of money, rights, and conviction of criminals on an average basis. These are cases that are seen many times a day because they are frequent issues. Some of the less severe, but more frequent cases that are seen are issues of traffic violations and disruption violations within a specific jurisdiction. 
Many former courts of common pleas have been dissolved and the specific areas of interest have been moved into different courts to preside over instead. Overall, the court of common pleas is a judicial system that is fading away into non-existence because there are larger, more rounded courts that take care of various criminal and civil issues.