San Francisco, California Legal Overview The City of San Francisco is the county seat of San Francisco County, California. The San Francisco Superior Court is the main trial court for cases that come under general as well as limited jurisdiction. This court located in the City of San Francisco has separate divisions for everything from unlimited civil (above $25,000) and limited civil cases to small claims, criminal felonies and misdemeanors, divorce and annulment petitions, probate cases, juvenile cases and traffic infractions.
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1. Civil cases that do not exceed $25,000 are considered limited jurisdiction cases in the superior court. Businesses and other organizations may file small claims of up to $5,000. An individual can file small claims of up to $10,000. Small claims that exceed $2,500 can be filed only twice a year. Small claims below this amount have no such restrictions. Traffic infractions and misdemeanors are also limited jurisdiction cases, as long as the maximum fine for the offense is $1,000 and the jail term no more than a year.
Trending San Francisco, California Legal Topics: Limited jurisdiction case appeals such as misdemeanors and civil cases below $25,000 are to be filed with the appellate division of the San Francisco Superior Court. Small claims have no appeals process. Appeals against general jurisdiction cases go to the 1st District Court of Appeal. The court of last resort in the state judicial system is the California Supreme Court. All federal cases for San Francisco go to the San Francisco Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. |