Oregon circuit courts

Oregon's circuit courts are the state's general jurisdiction trial courts, hearing both civil and criminal cases, and are administered through the Oregon Judicial Department across 27 circuit court districts, most matching one of the state's 36 counties though six districts span more than one county; as of January 2007 the courts employed 173 judges. Most appeals from circuit court go to the Oregon Court of Appeals, with a limited class of cases going directly to the Oregon Supreme Court, and in 2010 Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz created the statewide Oregon Complex Litigation Court within the circuit court system. Oregon folded its separate district courts into the circuit court system in 1998, and the Oregon Judicial Department does not oversee the state's remaining local courts, which include county courts, justice courts and municipal courts.