Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania

E72755

court system limited jurisdiction court trial court of limited jurisdiction

The Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania are local courts of limited jurisdiction that handle minor criminal offenses, traffic violations, small civil claims, landlord-tenant disputes, and preliminary hearings in the state’s judicial system.

Aliases (3)

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	court system → limited jurisdiction court → trial court of limited jurisdiction →
administrativeAuthority	Supreme Court of Pennsylvania →
alsoKnownAs	MDJs → Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania → surface form: "Magisterial District Judge courts"
appealsTo	Pennsylvania courts → surface form: "Courts of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania"
cannotHear	divorce actions → felony trials → major civil cases above statutory limit →
civilMonetaryLimit	small claims up to a statutory maximum amount →
country	United States of America → surface form: "United States"
fundingSource	primarily county and local government →
geographicOrganization	magisterial districts →
governingLaw	Pennsylvania Judicial Code →
handles	issuance of arrest warrants → issuance of emergency protection from abuse orders → issuance of search warrants → landlord–tenant disputes → minor criminal offenses → municipal code violations → parking violations → preliminary hearings in criminal cases → small civil claims → summary criminal offenses → traffic violations →
hasCourtType	night court in some districts →
hasWebsite	https://www.pacourts.us/courts/minor-courts/magisterial-district-judges →
judgesElected	yes →
judgesElectionType	partisan election →
judgesMustBeLawyers	not required statewide →
judgesTermLength	6 years →
judicialOfficersTitle	Magisterial District Judge →
jurisdiction	Pennsylvania → surface form: "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"
languageOfProceedings	English →
levelOfCourt	minor court →
locatedIn	Pennsylvania →
numberOfDistricts	over 500 magisterial districts →
partOf	Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania →
predecessor	Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania → surface form: "District Justice Courts of Pennsylvania"
primaryFunction	first level of Pennsylvania’s judicial system for most cases →
recordsType	public court records subject to Pennsylvania law →
roleInCivilProcess	adjudicate landlord–tenant possession and rent disputes → adjudicate small claims →
roleInCriminalProcess	conduct preliminary arraignments → conduct preliminary hearings to determine prima facie case → set bail in most cases →

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania → alsoKnownAs → Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania →

this entity surface form: "Magisterial District Judge courts"

Pennsylvania Rules of Court → bindingOn → Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania →

this entity surface form: "Pennsylvania Magisterial District Courts"

Pennsylvania courts → hasMinorCourt → Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania →

Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania → predecessor → Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania →

this entity surface form: "District Justice Courts of Pennsylvania"

Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts → worksWith → Magisterial District Courts of Pennsylvania →

this entity surface form: "Pennsylvania Magisterial District Courts"