The state-wide Superior Court system was established in 1859, holding the same powers and jurisdiction as the Supreme Judicial Court [St. 1859. c. 196]. The statute called for civil and criminal business to be separated into exclusive court terms and recognized the necessity of having two or more sessions in the same county. The Superior Court’s civil jurisdiction concerned all civil actions not exclusive to the Supreme Judicial Court, police courts, or justices of the peace, although it could hear appeals from lower courts on these matters [St. 1860, c. 114]. In 1891, the Superior Court's criminal jurisdiction was expanded to include exclusive original jurisdiction over capital crimes, an area which was previously reserved for the Supreme Judicial Court alone [St. 1891, c. 379]. An appellate division of the Superior Court was established by the legislature in 1943 to review certain sentences in criminal cases [St. 1943, c. 558].