New York Legal Overview: Buffalo-Niagara Falls The Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area in New York is defined by the Census Bureau as covering Erie and Niagara counties. This MSA is part of the Buffalo–Niagara–Cattaraugus combined statistical area (CSA), which additionally includes the Olean micropolitan area (Cattaraugus County). Both counties in the MSA come under the Eighth Judicial District. The Erie County Supreme Court handles all the civil cases filed in the county, while the Erie County Court gets all the felony prosecutions. Listed below are the main cities in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro area.
Top New York cities for Legal Issues: Buffalo
1. The Buffalo City Court has limited jurisdiction over misdemeanors, traffic tickets, small claims and civil disputes not amounting to more than $15,000. The county has two more city courts, one each in Lackawanna and Tonawanda. Erie and Niagara counties come under the Fourth Judicial Department, so appeals against these city court verdicts may be filed with the Erie County Court. In turn, county court verdict appeals must be filed with the New York Court of Appeals, which is the state’s highest court.
Trending Legal Topics: Appeals against verdicts obtained in the Erie County Supreme Court must be filed with the Supreme Court Appellate Division, 4th Department. The Niagara County supreme and county courts are located in Niagara Falls, as is the city court with limited jurisdiction. Niagara County also has city courts in Lockport and North Tonawanda. The appeals process is the same as described above for Erie County. Federal lawsuits in both counties can be filed with the Buffalo Division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. |