Circuit court is the name of court systems in several
common law jurisdictions. Originally it meant a court that would hold sessions in multiple locations within its judicial district; the judge or judges would travel in a circuit in order to adjudicate cases across a wide area. Especially on the
United States frontier, a judge might travel alone on horseback along with a group of lawyers.
Abraham Lincoln was one such attorney who would ride the circuit in Illinois. In more settled areas, a
stagecoach would be used. Eventually the legal caseload in a county would become great enough for a local judiciary. Most of these local judicial circuits have been thus replaced.
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