Calhoun County District Court is a state district court and conducts hearings for traffic violations and other misdemeanors from throughout the county except for the city of Hampton.

The first claim of land in the Hampton area was made around 1848 and the claimant established a farm. Two years later, when Calhoun county was established the county seat was located near the first claimant's farm. Soon after several merchants settled in the town. In the early 1860's cotton was a major contributor to the economy; but when construction of the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas railroad bypassed Calhoun it lost its commercial importance. However, in the early twentieth century many new commercial buildings were built in the city.