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The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the judiciary of New York. 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.[1]
New York is the only state in the United States where the Supreme Court is not the state's court of last resort (which would be the New York Court of Appeals), but it is a trial court. 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."[2] The Supreme Court is established in each of New York's 62 counties.[1]
A separate branch of the Supreme Court called the Appellate Division serves as the highest intermediate appellate court in New York.