North Carolina Superior Courts

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The North Carolina Superior Courts are courts at the trial level in North Carolina. According to the court website, the court tries all felony criminal cases and misdemeanor and infraction appeals from district courts. A jury of 12 hears the criminal cases.[1]

The superior courts are split into five divisions and 48 districts. Generally, superior court judges rotate among the districts within their division every six months. However, this rotation has been suspended due to budgetary constraints on at least three occasions.[1][2]

Superior court divisions

Superior Court Divisions Counties Served Judicial districts
First Division Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, and Wilson 1st, 2nd, 3A, 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 7C, 9th, 14A, and 14B
Second Division Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Robeson, Sampson, and Wayne 3B, 4th, 5A, 5B, 5C, 8A, 8B, 13A, 13B, and 16B
Third Division Alamance, Anson, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly, Union, and Wake 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F, 11A, 11B, 12A, 12B, 12C, 15A, 16A, 19B, 19D, 20A, and 20B
Fourth Division Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Iredell, Orange, Rockingham, Rowan, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes, and Yadkin 15B, 17A, 17B, 18A, 18B, 18C, 18D, 18E, 19A, 19C, 21A, 21B, 21C, 21D, 22A, 22B, and 23rd
Fifth Division Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey 24th, 25A, 25B, 26A, 26B, 26C, 26D, 26E, 26F, 26G, 26H, 27A, 27B, 28th, 29A, 29B, 30A, and 30B

Superior court map

The map below shows each of the superior court divisions by county.

Court restructuring (2018)

Changes

In 2018, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 717, revising the state superior court, district court, and prosecutorial districts. The table below highlights the changes the bill made.[3]

Changes to North Carolina superior and district courts
Court Changes
Superior court Decreased superior court judicial divisions from eight to five
Created superior court districts
Increased the number of superior court judges from 92 to 99
District court Redistributed the district courts across counties
Increased the number of district court judges by one

Timeline

Below is a brief timeline of the bill:


See also

North Carolina Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in North Carolina
North Carolina Court of Appeals
North Carolina Supreme Court
Elections: 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021
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Judicial selection in North Carolina
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The North Carolina Judicial Branch, "Superior Court," accessed August 12, 2019
  2. ↑ NC Business Litigation Report "Rotation Of North Carolina Superior Court Judges To Be Suspended Due To State Budget Crisis" July 13, 2009
  3. ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "Session Law 2018-121, House Bill 717," accessed August 30, 2019
  4. ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "House Bill 717 / SL 2018-121," accessed August 30, 2019

North Carolina courts

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

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