Circuit Court Jurisdiction for Civil Matters

• Circuit Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the General District Court over claims from $4,500 to $25,000.
• Exclusive original jurisdiction over claims exceeding $25,000. 
• All equity matters; these include divorce cases, disputes concerning wills and estates, and controversies involving property. 

Practices of the Clerk's Office

• Court Orders
  • Orders should only be submitted to the court when they are ready to be entered.
  • You may submit a copy of the proposed order, which will be indexed and scanned. You should bring the original order to your court hearing.
  • An original order that needs to be submitted to a Judge for entry by the court can be submitted to the Clerk's Office, along with a cover letter with instructions to send it to the Judge for entry.
  • Any required documents need to be filed before submitting the order for entry (i.e. VS-4, affidavits, etc.)
• Original Signature
  • Pleadings and Orders must contain original signatures.  
• Service Copies
  • Copies of documents for service must not be filed with the Clerk's Office until you are ready for service to be prepared.
• Cover Letters
  • If submitting a pleading or order for an upcoming hearing (within 1 week of filing), please include a cover letter or note on the pleading indicating this. 
• General Rules for Submitting Documents
  • The court will not accept documents that have been bounded with glue or adhesive.
  • The court will not accept documents that have been printed with or contain shading or grayed areas upon the document.
  • If you are opening a new civil case, you must file a civil action cover sheet, along with the initiating paperwork.
  • We cannot accept any pleadings or notices by fax or email. The original document must be received by our office either in person, or by mail.

*Please note: Court personnel are prohibited by law from giving legal advice.