Legal Definitions - circuit courts

Circuit Courts

A Circuit Court is a type of court where the judge travels to different locations to hold court sessions for a specific period of time. This means that the judge "rides the circuit" from town to town and takes the court with them. In the past, the Federal District Courts of Appeal were called the Circuit Courts of Appeal.

An example of a Circuit Court is the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. This court covers nine western states and has its headquarters in San Francisco. The judges travel to different cities within these states to hold court sessions.

Another example is the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois. This court has 15 judges who travel to different locations within Cook County to hold court sessions.

The examples illustrate the definition of Circuit Courts by showing how judges travel to different locations to hold court sessions. In both examples, the judges do not have a fixed location and instead move around to different cities or counties to hear cases. This allows people who live far away from the main courthouse to have access to the court system.