Also known as: shires · county
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An administrative division in Great Britain, especially England, that functions as a county. It originally comprised smaller units known as hundreds and later consisted of larger areas demarcated by metes and bounds.
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Samuel Soto and Sylvia Santos, residents of the shire where they have lived for two years, file a petition to adopt a child in that shire's court. Because most jurisdictions require residency in the shire of filing, the court accepts jurisdiction and proceeds with the adoption.
Spectrum Financial serves as trustee of a trust whose principal place of administration is located in a particular shire. When a beneficiary seeks judicial review of trust accounts, the proceeding is properly venued in the shire where the trust is administered.
The city in the shire initiates condemnation proceedings to acquire private homes for a redevelopment project. The owners challenge the taking as lacking public use, requiring the court to determine whether the shire's economic development plan satisfies constitutional standards.
Serena Soto, a nonresident of the shire, is sued there for an alleged tort committed outside its borders. The court must decide whether the shire can exercise jurisdiction consistent with due process requirements for minimum contacts.
Skyline Construction owns a building in the shire that the local preservation commission designates as a landmark. The company claims the designation constitutes a regulatory taking and seeks compensation under the standards applicable in the shire.
Sophia Singh and her roommates rent a home in the shire subject to an ordinance limiting occupancy to two unrelated persons. They challenge the restriction as violating substantive due process, testing the shire's authority to regulate household composition.
A shire is the historical British term for a county, an administrative division that continues to function as a county today.
Supporting sources
Shires were originally composed of smaller units called hundreds and later became larger divisions set off by metes and bounds.
Supporting sources
American law uses the term county rather than shire, but the concept of a county as a jurisdictional unit for venue, adoption, and other matters parallels the shire's historical role.
Supporting sources
…called at the Secretary of State's office for commissions of justices of the peace; that as many as twelve commissions for that county were delivered to him for which he gave a receipt which he left in the office; finding he could not conveniently carry the whole he returned several and struck a pen through some names in…