New Hampshire

From Judgepedia

The state's highest and the sole appellate court is the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary and, with the other justices of the supreme court, oversees the judicial branch. New Hampshire has three additional courts and one division:

The Superior Court is the court of general jurisdiction and the only which provides for jury trials in civil and criminal cases.
The state's Probate Court has jurisdiction over trusts, wills and estates, adoptions, termination of parental rights, name changes, guardianship of incapacitated persons, guardianship of minors, partition of property and involuntary admissions.
The District Court hears cases involving families, juveniles, minor crimes and violations, and civil matters under $25,000.
The Family Division has jurisdiction over divorce, child custody, child support, domestic violence, guardianship of minors, termination of parental rights, abuse/neglect, children in need of services (CHINS), juvenile delinquency, and some adoptions.

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History of the Supreme Court

As a colony, New Hampshire adopted a temporary 1776 Constitution, which established the "Superior Court of Judicature" consisting of four justices. By 1876, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire was created with an act by the legislature, and in 1901, the legislature changed the judiciary again by replacing the Supreme Court with two other courts. Sixty-five years later, the state constitution was amended to established the Supreme Court and the Superior Court in the constitution. From 1965 and on, only a constitutional amendment could alter the appellate courts. In the 1970s and 1980s, changes were made to the role of the Chief Justice, giving that position the authority and for the operation and administration of all courts in the state.^[1] In 2000, the Judicial Conduct Commission was announced by the Supreme Court, which had the role that the Judicial Conduct Committee had had.^[2].

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