Only in a federal bankruptcy court can a person file a bankruptcy action. State courts have no jurisdiction in bankruptcy cases. General jurisdiction means that a court has the ability to hear and decide a wide range of cases. Unless a law or constitutional provision denies them jurisdiction, courts of general jurisdiction have authority to handle any kind of case. The Florida district courts are general jurisdiction courts.
Limited jurisdiction means that a court has restrictions on the cases it can decide.
Venue Venue frequently is confused with jurisdiction. While jurisdiction asks whether a court system has authority to hear a case, venue asks which court within a jurisdiction should hear and decide a case. In Florida, a case is usually brought in the county in which the claim originates or where one or more defendants resides. Change of venue can be requested by either of the parties. For example, a corporate defendant in Orlando might request a change of venue to Tallahassee because adverse publicity in Orlando makes it impossible for the corporation to get a fair trial in Orlando, or because most of its files are located in Tallahassee.