State Court Jurisdiction

STATE COURT JURISDICTION

State court jurisdiction refers to a court’s ability to hear a case and to issue a binding decision (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, and Langvardt, 2010). In civil matters a court must have subject- matter jurisdiction and in personam or in rem jurisdiction (Mallor et al, 2010). Subject-matter jurisdiction is a specific court’s ability to choose the class of dispute involved in the case (Mallor et al, 2010). This specifically refers to courts not being able to hear cases that fall under other court’s jurisdiction. In other words, a civil court cannot oversee criminal proceedings; these would be done in criminal court (Mallor et al, 2010). Subject-matter jurisdiction must be accompanied by in personam or in rem jurisdiction. In personam jurisdiction is based specifically on the residency, location, and/or activities of the defendant (Mallor et al, 2010). For a state court to have in personam jurisdiction, the defendant must be a resident of that state, be located in state borders when served, or consent to the authority of the court (Mallor et al, 2010 ). This means that a defendant must either live in the state, be located in the state when served (nonresident), or agree to enter the state in which the plaintiff’s claim was filed. If a court does not have in personam jurisdiction than it must have in rem jurisdiction. In rem jurisdiction deals with property located within that specific state (Mallor et al, 2010). In rem gives state courts the ability to determine rights for property that is situated within that state even if some or all of the people involved are located outside of the state’s in personam jurisdiction (Mallor et al, 2010).

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References

Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt. (2010). Business Law: The Ethical, Global, and

E-Commerce Environment (14th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.