Court of Appeals

The state's intermediate appellate court that reviews the proceedings that occurred in trial courts for errors of law or legal procedure.
Court of Appeals building

About

The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the state's intermediate appellate court. Currently 15 judges hear cases in panels of three. The Court of Appeals reviews the proceedings that occurred in the trial courts for errors of law or legal procedure; it decides only questions of law – not questions of fact. The role of the Court of Appeals is to decide if the trial court correctly applied the law, or if there was prejudicial error in the conduct of the trial.

The majority of cases appealed from the Superior and District courts in civil and criminal cases are heard by the Court of Appeals. One major exception is capital murder appeals in which the death penalty was imposed; these appeals go directly to the Supreme Court of North Carolina. In addition, direct appeals from certain of the state’s administrative agencies are heard by the Court of Appeals.

If a member of the three-judge panel dissents from the decision of the majority, there is a right of appeal from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court of North Carolina; otherwise, further review of a decision of the Court of Appeals is limited to those cases that the Supreme Court accepts in its discretion. Judges of the Court of Appeals are elected and serve eight-year terms. A Chief Judge for the North Carolina Court of Appeals is designated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Cases are heard by a panel of three judges with the Chief Judge being responsible for assigning members of the court to the five panels.

More information about the Court of Appeals

More Information

Opinions

Slip opinions filed and written by the judges of the Court of Appeals.

Dockets

Search Court of Appeals Dockets by case title, name, number, or party.

Orders

Search Court of Appeals Orders by docket number or case title.

Self-Representation Guide

Information and forms for parties representing themselves at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Advance Sheets

Preliminary publication of the official North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports assigning citations to opinions and including headnotes (case summaries).

PDF Volumes

PDF versions of the final book publication of opinions (with headnotes).

Search Case Summaries / Headnotes

Search headnotes of legal topics in opinions of the Supreme Court (since December 2014) and the Court of Appeals (since April 2016).

Legal Standards Database

Provides illustrations of the wide variety of standards of review, legal tests, and general statements of law.

Court Rules

Rules of practice, procedure, and conduct adopted by the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Contact

Court of Appeals Clerk's OfficeTelephone(919) 831-3600
Hours of operation: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (except holidays)

Physical addressNorth Carolina Court of Appeals
Clerk's Office
1 West Morgan Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

Maps and directions

Mailing addressPO Box 2779
Raleigh, NC 27602

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