• Hampton Circuit Court is in Hampton, Virginia.gavel image by Cora Reed from Fotolia.com
  
  In Virginia, circuit courts try both civil and criminal cases. One of the state's 120 circuit courts in its 130 judicial circuits is the Hampton Circuit Court, in Hampton, Virginia. While the Virginia Supreme Court establishes rules of circuit courts as a whole, each court, including Hampton, has some discretion in formulating individual codes of procedure.
  
  

Scheduling

• The Hampton Circuit Court, like nearly all courts, divides its session into terms. The terms in the Hampton court begin on the first Monday of February, April, June, August, October and December. On term day, the court schedules all criminal cases. The court, by contrast, sets civil cases by praecipe, with scheduling handled by the judicial secretaries. All criminal term grand juries meet on the first Monday of every month at 9 a.m. On days in which it is in session, the circuit court convenes at 9 a.m. for civil matters and 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 2 p.m. for criminal matters
  
  

Judges

• Virginia's General Assembly elects judges to the bench for eight-year terms. All must receive a majority vote. In the event of a vacancy, the governor places an interim judge. Hampton Court, one of the smaller Virginia circuit courts, has four judges. Each circuit also has a single judge elected as chief judge by the sitting judges. In Hampton, the chief judge must receive at least three of the four votes. As of August 2010, Hampton's chief judge was Wilford Taylor Jr.
  
  

Criminal and Civil Procedure

• In felony criminal cases that fall within Hampton's jurisdiction, the defendant initially appears before Hampton General District Court. If the judge finds there is probable cause to put the accused on trial, the case goes before a grand jury. If the grand jury agrees, the case moves to Hampton Circuit Court for trial. In civil cases, the plaintiff must file the complaint with a Hampton Circuit Court clerk. The defendant in the case receives notification and has 21 days to respond.
  
  

Jurisdiction

• For criminal cases, Hampton Circuit Court has jurisdiction over the trial of all felonies. For civil cases, it shares jurisdiction with Hampton General District Court over cases involving claims of $4,500 to $15,000. It has exclusive jurisdiction over all cases with claims of more than $15,000. Appeals of cases tried in Hampton General District Court go to Hampton Circuit Court. If accepted for appeal, the court hears these cases from the beginning, as if the original trial never took place.