Description
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System.
(Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil jurisdiction, with most criminal matters handled in County Court.
The court is unlike courts with the name "Supreme Court" in nearly all other states, because in New York the Supreme Court is a trial court and is not the highest court in the state. The highest court of the State of New York is the Court of Appeals. Also, although it is a trial court, the Supreme Court sits as a "single great tribunal of general state-wide jurisdiction, rather than an aggregation of separate courts sitting in the several counties or judicial districts of the state." The Supreme Court is established in each of New York's 62 counties.
