In the Nevada state court system, the Nevada District Courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction, where criminal, civil, family, and juvenile matters are generally resolved through arbitration, mediation, and bench or jury trials.
Brent T. Adams was the first business court judge in Reno.
The District Courts also hear appeals from the limited jurisdiction state courts, which are composed of 17 Municipal Courts (which handle involving traffic ticket and misdemeanor violations of ordinances occurring within the city limits of incorporated municipalities) and 45 Justice Courts (which handle misdemeanor crime and traffic matters, small claims, evictions, and other civil matters in which the amount in controversy is less than $10,000, as well as felony and gross misdemeanor arraignments and preliminary hearings to determine if sufficient evidence exists for a trial in the District Court).
[2] It is expected that most cases will be finally resolved by the Court of Appeals, from which further appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court of Nevada only in extraordinary cases.
[2] There are 82 judges sitting in 11 district courts, each covering one or more of Nevada's 16 counties and one independent city:[3]