Maryland Municipal Court Information

The State of Maryland has circuit courts located in each of the 23 counties of the state. The City of Baltimore is served by a separate circuit court as well. Unlike the district courts of Maryland, circuit courts are funded locally. Consequently, they enjoy a far greater autonomy then the district courts of Maryland.

Circuit Courts of Maryland

The circuit courts, together with various other specialized courts, actually perform the functions of Maryland municipal courts. The circuit courts have 153 functional judges presiding over the proceedings of the court. The courts also offer the option of jury trials in most cases. Circuit courts bear the additional responsibility of hearing jury trials of cases initially filed in the district courts of the state. However, this option is not open for everyone and is exercised under certain circumstances only.

A specialized Orphan’s court operates in 22 counties of Maryland and handles specific cases pertaining to probate and estate disputes along with guardianship issues. Sixty six judges preside over the orphan’s court which has an extremely limited jurisdiction. The court hears all guardianship as well as tax disputes in the counties of Montgomery and Harford as they do not have a specific orphan’s court.

Jurisdiction of Maryland Municipal Courts

Civil cases including tort, property disputes and contract cases come under the jurisdiction of the Maryland circuit courts. Real estate matters over $5,000 are normally heard by the judges of the circuit court.

Juvenile cases are exclusively heard by the circuit courts. Family matters related to marital disputes and annulment as well as divorce cases regularly come up for hearing in the circuit courts of Maryland. Some circuit courts may operate separate divisions for hearing of Juvenile and family matters. Family Services Programs are present in the larger circuit courts of Maryland.

Cases of felony and misdemeanor are handled by the criminal division of the circuit courts. The circuit court acts as an appellate court of the region. All civil as well as criminal appeals from the district court, orphan’s court as well as various administrative agencies are heard by the circuit courts of the state.

Obtaining Court Information

The circuit court for the 8th Judicial Circuit is located in Baltimore. The city has a fully functional orphan’s court as well. You can request court information by contacting the circuit court of Baltimore city at:

111 North Calvert St.
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

The court administrator can be contacted at the same address or can be reached by telephone at (410) 396-5188.

The Juvenile Justice Center is located at:

300 N. Gay Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Most records can be accessed over the Internet. Log in to http://www.baltocts.state.md.us/ if you are interested in learning about the trials or require other court information.

Contact details for all eight judicial circuits of the state can be viewed at http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/bcity/html/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/bcityj.html. It is also possible to e-mail the clerk of the circuit court at frank.conaway@mdcourts.gov if you desire to obtain additional information about the circuit court proceedings.

Specific Maryland Municipal Court Information:

Baltimore Court

Frederick Court