The supreme court has original jurisdiction in habeas corpus, quo warranto and mandamus proceedings against all state officers; and it has appellate jurisdiction except in civil actions for the recovery of money or personal property, in which the original amount in controversy does not exceed $200, and which at the same time do not involve the legality of a tax, impost, assessment, toll or municipal fine, or the validity of a statute.
They have original jurisdiction in all cases in equity, in all cases at law which involve the title or possession of real property, or the legality of a tax, impost, assessment, toll or municipal fine, and in all other cases at law in which the amount in controversy is $loo or more, in nearly all criminal cases, in matters of probate, in proceedings for divorce, and in various other cases; and they have appellate jurisdiction of cases originally tried before a justice of the peace or other inferior courts where the amount in controversy is more than $20.
They have jurisdiction of various civil actions in which the amount in controversy is less than $100, and concurrent jurisdiction with the superior courts in all cases of misdemeanours, but punishment by a justice of the peace is limited in cities of the first class to a fine of $500, or imprisonment for six months, and elsewhere to a fine of $100 or imprisonment for thirty days.
Justices of the peace, one of whom is elected biennially in each precinct, have jurisdiction in civil actions in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $200 and the title to or boundary of real estate is not involved, and in criminal actions less than a felony and in which the punishment prescribed by law does not exceed a fine of $100 and imprisonment for six months.
This court has jurisdiction of appeals from equity courts in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $1000, except in cases involving the constitutionality of a Tennessee statute, contested election or state revenue, and ejectment suits; it has jurisdiction also of civil cases tried in the circuit and common law courts in which writs of error or appeals in the nature of writs of error are applied for.
