Superior Courts of California

The Superior Courts of California are the state trial court system of the U.S. state of California. They have general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governmental agency. As mandated by the California Constitution, there is a superior court in each of the 58 counties in California. The superior courts also have appellate divisions (superior court judges sitting as appellate judges) which hear appeals from decisions in infraction and misdemeanor cases.

Prior to June 1998, California's trial court system was divided into superior courts and municipal courts, each operating under separate jurisdictions with the number of judges set by the California State Legislature. That structure changed in June 1998, when voters passed Proposition 220 of 1998, a constitutional amendment allowing judges within each county to consolidate the two court types into a single, unified superior court. By February 2001, every one of California's 58 counties had approved unification of their trial courts.