Washington DC Court Information and Location

The Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia came into being after the Court Reform and Criminal Procedure Act was implemented in 1970. From 1801 till 1970, the Judiciary of DC underwent many changes to simplify procedures. After 1970, subdivisions like Juvenile Court, Justice of the Peace Court, Municipal Court, DC Court of General Sessions and the Municipal Court of Appeals at appellate level were dissolved. The present day Washington DC Court of Appeals and Superior Court of DC were created by dissolving these courts. So Washington DC Municipal Court does not exist in DC since 1970.

The Court of Appeals in DC is regarded as the court of last resort. It is the highest court of DC and the state counterpart of Supreme Court. It has the mandatory jurisdiction over criminal, civil, administrative, original proceedings, and juvenile matters. It has the authority to review all the orders and judgments originating from the Superior Court. It reviews the decisions made by different boards and commissions of government of District of Columbia. It can use its discretionary power where the cases of small claims or minor criminals are involved. There are nine judges in the DC Court of Appeals.

Locating the Washington DC Court

The Court of Appeals is located at Historic Courthouse, 430 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. You can reach the office by calling 202-879-2700. Presently, Clerk of the Court Office is Garland Pinkstone, Jr. The Court office remains open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. If you need to file your petition after the duty hours, you will need to approach the Security Desk.

For further information you can go to http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/appeals/general.jsp. You can also download forms for this Washington DC Court from http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/appeals/forms.jsp.

Washington DC Superior Court

Another Washington DC Court is the Superior Court. There are 53 judges and 23 magistrates to judge the cases that are presented here. It is a General Jurisdiction Court. Civil cases involving an amount above $5,000, small claims cases involving an amount below $5,000, domestic relation cases, criminal offenses, juvenile offenses, and traffic offenses are handled by the Washington DC Superior Court.

This court offers various services like language interpreters, efiling, remote access to dockets, counseling, and many more. Superior Court has different units like Family Court, Domestic Violence Unit, Probate Division, Special Operations and Civil Division. You can visit their website to get detailed information at http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/superior/index.jsp.

Each branch of each division has a different address. For Civil Cases, the main phone number is (202) 879-1133. The office is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every weekday and from 9:00 am to 12 noon on Saturdays. For further information on the department and their addresses you can go to http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/superior/civil/index.jsp.

The contact number for the Family Court is 202-879-1212. Their IVR facility is available twenty four hours a day. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays. The link http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/superior/family/index.jsp will give you necessary details on the sub-divisions of this court.