page_title: Judiciary of California
section_title: Courts
hierarchical_section_title: Judiciary of California / Courts
caption_attribution_description: English: The Earl Warren Building and Courthouse (former California State Building) — at Civic Center Plaza in the San Francisco Civic Center, California. This building is home to the Supreme Court of California and the Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District. Credits Photographed by user Coolcaesar on en:August 31, en:2006.
context_page_description: The Judiciary of California is defined under the California Constitution, law, and regulations as part of the Government of California. The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the Supreme Court at the apex, California courts of appeal as the primary appellate courts, and the California superior courts as the primary trial courts. Its administration is effected by the Judicial Council and its staff, as well as the relatively autonomous courts. California uses a modified Missouri Plan method of appointing judges, whereby judges are nominally elected at the superior court level and appointed at higher levels, and are subject to retention elections.
  The judicial system of California is the largest in the United States that is fully staffed by professional law-trained judges. As of 2012, the state judiciary has more than 2,000 judicial officers that hear over 10 million cases each year. In comparison, the federal judicial system has only about 840 judges. Although New York and Texas each technically have more judicial officers than California, a large number of them are not attorneys and have no formal legal training.
context_section_description: The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the Supreme Court at the apex, courts of appeal as the primary appellate courts, and the superior courts as the primary trial courts.
caption: The Earl Warren Supreme Court Building
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