Civil Court & Protection Orders
East Fork Justice Court hears civil cases that involve the following:
- Protection Orders (Domestic Violence, Stalking, etc.)
- Small Claims
- Landlord & Tenant
- Records Sealing
In civil law, a case commences when a complaint is filed by a party which may be an individual, an organization, a company or a corporation, against another party. The party complaining is called the plaintiff and the party responding is called the defendant. The process is called litigation.
In civil litigation, the plaintiff is asking the court to order the defendant to remedy a wrong, often in the form of monetary compensation to the plaintiff. In contrast, in criminal law, the case is filed by the government, usually referred to as the State and represented by a prosecutor, against a defendant. An individual can never file criminal charges against another person: an individual may report a crime, but only the government can file criminal charges in court.