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General District Courts in Virginia

This is the lowest level state court. It is referred to as a “court not of record” because no record or transcript of the evidence is taken unless one of the parties retains a court reporter (frequently done in traffic court for later use in civil lawsuits). The general district court has exclusive authority to try cases where the amount sued for is $15,000 or less. This means that, with certain exceptions regarding specific types of cases, all cases filed for less than $15,000 must be heard in general district court .

Most minor personal injury cases are filed in General District Court. There are several advantages to filing in this Court. Most importantly, cases are usually set for trial within 2 to 5 months of filing. In Circuit Court, trials usually do not occur until at least 9 months after filing, and sometimes years after filing. Also, General district court has different procedures that don’t apply in other courts. There are no juries in general district court, and all trials are “bench trials,” which means they are heard by a judge. General district court judges are elected by the General Assembly for six-year terms.

Depending on the court system, the general district court typically has separate divisions for juvenile and domestic relations cases, and for traffic court.