Circuit Court Definition

1) The name used for the principal trial court in many states.

2) In the federal court system, "circuit court" refers to the United States courts of appeals, which are divided into 13 different circuits. Eleven of these circuits are numbered (1 through 11) and cover different geographic areas of the country. For example, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. The remaining circuits are the District of Columbia Circuit and the Federal Circuit (which hears patent, customs, and other specialized cases based on subject matter).

The term derives from an age before mechanized transit, when judges and lawyers "rode the circuit" within their territory to hold court in various places.