Justices of the peace are judges who handle both civil and criminal cases, including small claims court, justice court, and administrative hearings. In practical terms, these are lawsuits over debts, evictions, car accidents, unlawful towing, and property.

Their criminal workload involves disposing of all class C criminal misdemeanor complaints, such as traffic citations, issuance of bad check, and others. These cases involve payment, setting contested cases for trial, and pretrial hearings with the county prosecutor.

Other duties include presiding over peace bond hearings, reviewing applications for mental health or chemically dependent commitments, conducting compulsory school attendance trials, and giving warnings to juveniles required by law. They issue warrants for and conduct hearings concerning seizure and disposition of cruelly treated animals. Most justices of the peace perform marriage ceremonies as well.

In Florida, the role described as 'justices of the peace' does not exist in the same form as in some other states. Florida does not have justices of the peace; instead, the state has county court judges and circuit court judges who handle the types of cases mentioned. County court judges deal with misdemeanors, small claims (up to $8,000), and civil cases under $30,000, while circuit court judges handle larger civil cases, family law matters, felonies, and juvenile cases. Traffic citations and other class C misdemeanors would typically be handled in county courts. Florida also has a system of magistrates and hearing officers who may handle certain types of cases or aspects of cases, such as family law matters or pretrial motions. Duties like marriage ceremonies can be performed by notaries public, clerks of the court, and ordained ministers, among others. For mental health or substance abuse commitments, Florida uses a system involving the court, typically with circuit judges, and the Baker Act for mental health issues or the Marchman Act for substance abuse issues. Animal cruelty cases would be handled by the appropriate court, depending on the severity of the offense.