Court Filings in North Carolina State Courts Presentation to the House Legislative Research Committee on Judicial Efficiency and Effective Administration of Justice November 21, 2013 John W. Smith, Director
Article IV of the North Carolina Constitution Sec. 2. General Court of Justice. The General Court of Justice shall constitute a unified judicial system for purposes of jurisdiction, operation, and administration, and shall consist of an Appellate Division, a Superior Court Division, and a District Court Division. LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 2
Superior Court v. District Court Superior Court Original jurisdiction: all felony cases; civil cases in excess of $25,000*; decisions of most administrative agencies. District Court Original jurisdiction: misdemeanor cases not assigned to magistrates; probable cause hearings; accept guilty/no contest pleas in certain felony cases; civil cases $25,000* or less; juvenile proceedings; domestic relations; mental health hospital commitments. *Through June 30, 2015, either the district court or the superior court is the proper division for the trial of civil actions in which the amount in controversy is between $10,000 and $25,000. LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 3
Overview of Judicial Branch Personnel Approximately 6,000 employees Includes 533 elected judicial officials 100 Clerks of Superior Court 44 District Attorneys 97 Resident Superior Court Judges 270 District Court Judges 15 Court of Appeals Judges 7 Supreme Court Justices 15 appointed Special SCJs, including 3 Business Court Judges 676 appointed Magistrates LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 4
By the Numbers Facts about the Judicial Branch and its component parts LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 5
30,000 Law Enforcement Officers served daily through our databases LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 6
1 Million Processes in NCAWARE (served and unserved warrants, orders for arrest, etc.) 2,000 served each day LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 7
2 Million Transactions made daily in computer applications LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 8
80,000+ Help Desk tickets logged annually LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 9
160,000 Hits per day on online court calendars LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 10
$773.9 Million Amount collected and distributed by Clerks of Superior Court in FY2012-13 LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 11
2.8 Million Case filings annually LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 12
99.7% Network reliability/uptime LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 13
Statewide Filings FY1987-88 through FY2012-13 4,000,000 3,500,000 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 1 9 9 9-2 0 0 0 500,000 Recession Jul 1990-Mar 1991 Recession Mar-Nov 2001 Great Recession Dec 2007-Jun 2009+ 0 LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 14
Nationwide Court Filings Source: Publication: Examining the Work of State Courts: An Analysis of 2010 State Court Caseloads National Center for State Courts 108,000,000 106,000,000 104,000,000 102,000,000 100,000,000 98,000,000 96,000,000 94,000,000 92,000,000 90,000,000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Total Incoming Filings Not Yet Available LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 15
Filings by Case Type 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 608,845 419,407 678,189 467,644 669,667 496,658 493,974 651,728 693,396 493,342 473,764 717,086 502,330 584,729 634,834 705,530 658,273 701,034 669,753 697,134 712,757 701,382 723,062 644,478 822,106 733,275 1,013,371 923,000 892,635 840,750 853,742 722,550 767,889 749,014 754,351 808,384 804,335 1,117,325 1,132,100 1,048,447 1,060,379 1,018,120 Motor Vehicle 852,749 CR Non-MV 768,922 987,848 Infractions CV Magistrate 654,644 711,954 747,593 CVS CIVIL ESTATES SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS CRS FELONIES CRS MISDEMEANORS CVD DOMESTIC RELATIONS CVD GENERAL CIVIL CIVIL MAGISTRATE CR MOTOR VEHICLE CR NON-MOTOR VEHICLE 200,000 INFRACTION CIVIL LICENSE REVOCATIONS 0 LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 16
Superior Criminal Felonies 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 55,284 62,752 69,810 73,908 85,748 83,939 83,823 83,417 83,212 88,349 92,672 94,517 93,602 95,953 100,729 100,837 99,587 101,509 109,815 111,059 110,083 110,347 100,854 102,803 104,449 101,354 40,000 20,000 0 FILED DISPOSED END PENDING LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 17
Superior Criminal Misdemeanors 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 FILED DISPOSED END PENDING LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 18
Superior Civil 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 FILED DISPOSED END PENDING LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 19
District Criminal Non-Motor Vehicle 800,000 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 FILED DISPOSED END PENDING LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 20
Motor Vehicle 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 400,000 200,000 419,407 467,644 496,658 493,974 493,342 473,764 502,330 584,729 634,834 658,273 669,753 712,757 723,062 822,106 853,742 840,750 892,635 923,000 1,013,371 1,018,120 1,060,379 1,048,447 1,132,100 1,117,325 987,848 905,229 0 FILED DISPOSED LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 21
Infractions 900,000 800,000 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 FILED DISPOSED LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 22
District General Civil (non Domestic Relations) 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 FILED DISPOSED END PENDING LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 23
District Civil Domestic Relations 160,000 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 FILED DISPOSED END PENDING LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 24
Special Proceedings 160,000 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 25 FILED DISPOSED
Estates 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 FILED DISPOSED LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 26
Civil Magistrate: Small Claims Filings 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 277,336 308,029 292,572 279,209 260,289 237,729 239,540 253,902 263,392 271,994 281,133 278,311 287,505 284,445 284,478 279,955 275,551 274,449 274,032 264,194 268,256 262,126 247,759 252,519 225,966 218,908 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 25 Year Trend FILED DISPOSED LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 27
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 History of Jurisdictional Increases for Magistrates and District Court $30,000.00 $25,000.00 Effects of Inflation: 1976 $5,000 would be worth $20,542 in 2013 1982 $10,000 would be worth $24,230 in 2013 1976 $500 would be worth $2,054 in 2013 1990 $2000 would be worth $3,574 in 2013 $20,000.00 $15,000.00 $10,000.00 $5,000.00 $- LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 28
Caseload Inventory Superior Court FY2012-13 with dispositions as percent of filings Case type Filed Disposed Civil cases 21,458 24,002 112% Estates 68,444 60,088 101% Special proceedings 132,712 119,413 90% Criminal (felonies) 101,354 123,542 122% Criminal (misdemeanors) 30,447 33,558 110% LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 29
Caseload Inventory District Court FY2012-13 with dispositions as percent of filings Case type Filed Disposed DC Civil 183,835 188,237 102% DC Criminal Non MV 583,286 643,591 110% DC Criminal Motor vehicle 905,229 997,446 110% DC Infractions 592,460 641,055 108% Magistrate - small claims 218,908 219,970 100% LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 30
2013-15 Workload Needs: 673 positions District Court Judge 22 Magistrates 92 Deputy Clerk 227 284 Total Assistant Clerk 57 Superior Court Judicial Assistant I 5 Superior Court Judicial Assistant II 5 District Court Judicial Assistant I 8 District Court Judicial Assistant II 8 District Court TCC 6 Family Court Administrator* 4 Family Court Coordinator* 23 Custody Mediator I 7 Secretary I 3 Guardian ad Litem District Administrator 6 Guardian ad Litem Program Supervisor 39 Guardian ad Litem Program Assistant 3 Assistant District Attorney 87 VWLA 56 District Attorney Investigator 7 DA Administrative Assistant 8 Based on filings 7/1/2010-6/30/2013 LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 31
Recent Trends Estates and special proceedings time consuming case types are still generally increasing Felony filing levels are quite stable Judicial Branch is using available resources to reduce backlog Judicial Branch was not adequately funded before recession Filings have always trended higher after past recessions LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 32
November 21, 2013 John.W.Smith@nccourts.org www.nccourts.org Presentation title Arial 9pt Month 2008 33 LRC / Court Filings, November 21, 2013 33