{{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} The '''Rhode Island Superior Court''' is the [[State court (United States)|state]] [[trial court]] of [[general jurisdiction]] in [[Rhode Island]].
==Jurisdiction== The Superior Court has [[original jurisdiction]] in all [[felony]] proceedings, [[Civil law (common law)|civil]] matters with an [[amount in controversy]] in excess of $10,000, and all matters of [[Equity (law)|equity]]. The Superior Court exercises [[concurrent jurisdiction]] in civil matters with an amount in controversy between $5,000 and $10,000 with the lower District Court (a court of [[limited jurisdiction]]), and also has concurrent jurisdiction with the [[Rhode Island Supreme Court]] (the [[state supreme court]]) in the issuance of [[writ]]s of [[habeas corpus]] and [[mandamus]].
The Superior Court is the [[trial]] [[court]] of [[Court of record|record]] in Rhode Island and is the only Rhode Island court for hearing [[jury trial]]s. The lower District Courts hear trials of [[misdemeanor]] cases, and the decisions of the District Court may be appealed to the Superior Court for a [[trial de novo]] (new trial).
The Superior Court has a specialized [[Business courts|business court]] track, the Business Calendar,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gibney |first=Presiding Justice Alice B. |date=July 29, 2011 |title=Rhode Island Superior Court, Administrative Order No. 2011-10 |url=https://www.courts.ri.gov/Administrative%20Orders/2011-10.pdf}}</ref> which is one of the oldest business court programs in the United States,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bodurtha |first=Harmony Conti |last2=Shaghalian |first2=Catherine A. |date=March 2018 |title=The Business Calendar: A Deeper Bench |url=https://www.ribar.com/UserFiles/RIBar_Mar-Apr_2018_Jrnl_F.pdf |journal=Rhode Island Bar Journal |volume=66 |issue=5 |pages=13–17}}</ref> originally led by Associate Justice [[Michael A. Silverstein]], who served as a Business Calendar judge from 2001 to 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mulvaney |first=Katie |title=A judge's judge |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/courts/2018/08/14/retiring-judge-silverstein-is-role-model-on-bench-his-peers-say/11059595007/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=The Providence Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>
Since Rhode Island has no intermediate [[appellate court]], appeals from the Superior Court go directly to the Supreme Court.
==Organization== The chief administrative judge of the court is the Presiding Justice of the Superior Court. The chief administrative judge establishes calendars, assigns judges, appoints the Superior Court administrator, jury commissioner, and other staff, and makes rules for court business. The Presiding Justice manages the Central Registry, Arbitration Office, and [[Court clerk|Clerk's]] Office. There are 21 Associate Justices and five Magistrates of the Superior Court.
[[List of counties in Rhode Island|Rhode Island's five counties]] each have separate jurisdictions of Superior Court: One in [[Kent County, Rhode Island|Kent County]] (at the Noel Judicial Complex in [[Warwick, Rhode Island|Warwick]]), one in [[Washington County, Rhode Island|Washington County]] (at the McGrath Judicial Complex at [[Wakefield, Rhode Island|Wakefield]]), one in [[Newport County, Rhode Island|Newport County]] (at the Murray Judicial Complex in [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]]), and a combined jurisdiction for [[Providence County, Rhode Island|Providence]] and [[Bristol County, Rhode Island|Bristol]] counties (at the Licht Judicial Complex, formerly known as the Providence County Courthouse, in the [[List of capitals in the United States|state capital]] of [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]] (which the Superior Court shares with the Supreme Court and Rhode Island Law Library).
==See also== *[[Vincent Ragosta]], former Rhode Island Superior Court justice<ref>{{cite book|title=The American Bench|date=2007|publisher=Reginald Bishop Forster & Associates|page=2215}}</ref> *[[Rhode Island Supreme Court]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.courts.ri.gov/Pages/default.aspx Rhode Island Courts Website]
[[Category:Rhode Island state courts|Superior]] [[Category:Superior courts in the United States|Rhode Island]] [[Category:Courts and tribunals with year of establishment missing]]