Legal Definition and Related Resources of Circuit courts

In American Taw. Courts whose jurisdiction extends over several counties or districts, and of which terms are held in the various counties or districts to which their jurisdiction extends. The term is applied in several states to courts of general original jurisdiction, terms of which are held in the various counties or districts of the state. It is unknown in the classification of English courts, and conveys a different idea in the various States in which it is adopted. In the federal jurisprudence of the United States, the circuit courts were a system of federal courts, holding terms in several places in each of the several judicial circuits. See “Circuit.” They had original jurisdiction of substantially all civil cases which, by reason of the citizenship of the parties, or the nature of the subject-matter, were of federal cognizance. See “District Courts.” 1 Kent, Comm. 301-303; Rev. St. U.S. 1878, § 605 et seq. They were abolished by the Act of March 3, 1911, 36 Stat. 1167.

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This definition of Circuit Courts is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

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