Circuit rider (U.S. Court system)

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This page refers to traveling jurists. For other uses, see Circuit rider.

Circuit rider is a term in the United States for a professional who travels a regular circuit of locations to provide services. The term first came into widespread application for judges, particularly in the sparsely populated American West, who would hold court in each town in their circuit on a regular basis, perhaps once a week or once a month. Traveling judges are now rare, but the term remains in the name circuit court, commonly applied to levels of court that oversee many, lower district courts.