Magisterial District Courts

Magisterial District Courts are the first level of court in the Pennsylvania legal system. Magisterial District Judges—or MDJs, as they are called—preside over traffic ticket cases, landlord tenant evictions, civil cases below $12,000 in value, summary trials for minor criminal citations, as well as preliminary arraignments and preliminary hearings (the first steps in most misdemeanor or felony criminal prosecutions).