District and Superior Courts

In 1839 the Legislature in 1839 established a District Court. The State was divided into three Districts with two Judges assigned to the Western District and one each to the Eastern and Middle Districts. The District Court was abolished by the Legislature in 1852 which transferred its jurisdiction to the Supreme Judicial Court.

Nisi prius and law work was performed by the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court until 1868 when the Superior Court for Cumberland County was established by the Legislature, followed in 1878 by the creation of the Superior Court for Kennebec County; by the Superior for Androscoggin County in 1917, and the Superior Court for Penobscot County in 1919. A Superior Court for Aroostook County, established by the Legislature in 1885, was abolished in 1893. Each of these Courts shared jurisdiction with the Supreme Judicial Court which continued to ride circuit until 1929 when the Legislature established the Superior Court as the trial court of general jurisdiction for the State.

The Superior Court, as presently constituted, has original jurisdiction over all matters not within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court or within the exclusive jurisdiction of the District Court. The Superior Court hears appeals from the District Court in criminal, juvenile and divorce matters, as well as appeals from decisions of the Administrative Court. Sessions of the Superior Court are held by the Justices of the Court in each of the counties of the State as assigned by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.

The District Court was created by the Legislature in 1961 to replace the inferior courts then existing in the State which consisted of fifty Municipal or Police Courts, each with a Judge and a Recorder or Associate Judge, and twenty-four Trial Justice Courts conducted by laymen on a part-time basis. Each of these inferior courts had been created, as had the first which were established in Portland, Bath and Bangor in 1825, by special acts of the Legislature which were adopted with little regard as to uniformity in jurisdiction and procedure or their accountability to a responsible head of those that were established.

The District Court has original jurisdiction in non-felony criminal cases and in those cases involving a violation of a local ordinance; and may conduct probable cause hearings and accept guilty pleas in felony cases. The Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the Superior Court in civil actions which the damages or relief sought does not exceed a certain amount; and functions as the small claims and juvenile courts of the State. Trials in misdemeanor cases are appealed to the Superior Court since the District Court is not a jury court. The District Court is composed of thirteen districts and thirty-one judicial divisions or locations where court is held. The Judges of the District Court consist of the Chief Judge, Judges at large who serve throughout the State and Judges assigned to the districts of the court. The Chief Judge is directly responsible to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court for the proper administration of the District Court.

Page updated December 8, 2005

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District and Superior Courts