Murphy Courts of Appeal Building, 361 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, Maryland, April 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Except as otherwise provided by law, the Court of Special Appeals has exclusive initial appellate jurisdiction over any reviewable judgment, decree, order, or other action of a circuit court or an orphans' court, except for appeals in criminal cases in which the death penalty is imposed. Generally, it hears cases appealed from the circuit courts (Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, sec. 12-308). The Court also considers applications for leave to appeal in such areas as post-conviction, habeas corpus matters involving denial of or excessive bail, probation revocations, convictions based upon guilty pleas, and inmate grievances (Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, secs. 1-401 through 1-403).
Judges of the Court of Special Appeals are empowered to, and generally do, sit in panels of three. A hearing or rehearing of a case before the whole Court (when all 15 judges sit together, en banc) may be ordered in any case by a majority of the Court's incumbent judges.
Since July 2013, the Court of Special Appeals has consisted of fifteen judges (Chapter 34, Acts of 2013). They are appointed by the Governor with Senate consent for ten-year terms, subject to approval of the voters at the next general election after the expiration of one year from the date of vacancy. One judge is elected from each of the seven appellate judicial circuits.* The remaining eight judges are elected from the State at large. The Chief Judge of the Court of Special Appeals is designated by the Governor.
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* In 1994, boundaries of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Appellate Judicial Circuits were reformed by Constitutional amendment (Chapter 103, Acts of 1994, ratified Nov. 8, 1994). One seat was eliminated from the 6th Appellate Judicial Circuit (Baltimore City) and a seventh circuit created encompassing Montgomery County (Const., Article IV, sec. 14). For the Court of Special Appeals, one judge from the 6th Appellate Judicial Circuit temporarily became an at-large member. The first vacancy on the Court from among the at-large members was used to fill the vacancy in the new 7th Appellate Judicial Circuit (Chapter 581, Acts of 1994).
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION DIVISION
The Division oversees the Court's Mediation and Prehearing Conference programs.
Every civil case filed with the Court of Special Appeals is reviewed to determine whether a mediation or prehearing conference would be beneficial. In Mediation, parties work with one or more impartial mediators who assist the parties in reaching their own voluntary agreement for complete or partial resolution of the issues on appeal, in addition to any other issues relevant to the underlying dispute between the parties. In Prehearing Conference, parties work with an incumbent or retired Court of Special Appeals judge to discuss the contents of the record and/or record extract, pending Prehearing motions, scheduling matters related to the appeal, consolidation of appeals, and any other issue aimed at streamlining the appellate process. Both processes offer litigants a chance to resolve their differences before engaging in the potentially lengthy and expensive appeal process, and assist the Court in conserving judicial resources by reducing the Court's caseload.
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The Alternative Dispute Resolution Division formed in February 2010 under the Court of Special Appeals as the Mediation Office. The Office was established to oversee the Civil Mediation Pilot Program created by an administrative order from the Chief Judge of the Court of Special Appeals. In February 2012, the Office reformed as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Division.
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