The Bertie County Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions was a local county court responsible for the day-to-day administration of the community. Justices of the peace elected by the colonial governor and later by the North Carolina General Assembly oversaw the court, which was originally established during the colonial period. The county court minutes recorded various appointments, orders, and trials relevant to the county. The court only oversaw minor offences and higher crimes (such as treason or misprision of treason in the case of the Gourd Patch Conspiracy) went to a higher court, which, in the case of Bertie, was the Edenton District Superior Court of Oyer & Terminer.