Nevada Judiciary

Caseloads increased throughout most of Nevada's court system, reflecting the state's extraordinary growth, but the report indicates one interesting statistic - District Court criminal cases remained at about the same level as the prior year.

The annual report shows that civil case filings in the trial courts grew by 11 percent during the year, continuing a trend as the fastest growing category of cases during the past five years.

The biggest jump in FY07 filings was the 14 percent increase in traffic and parking cases.

The 52-page report - the eighth annual report published by the Administrative Office of the Court - has been sent by Chief Justice William Maupin to the Nevada Legislature and has now been released to the public. It is posted on the Supreme Court’,s website at www.nvsupremecourt.us or available as a printed document from the Administrative Office of the Courts in Carson City or Las Vegas.

"The Annual Report details the current caseloads of every court in the state, and also provides comparative statistics for past years to demonstrate the increasing workloads our judges must address," said Chief Justice Maupin. "Every Nevadan can be proud of the way our courts at every level have stepped up to the challenge of providing fair, impartial, and timely justice."

The Annual Report is based on the Uniform System for Judicial Records reporting requirement enacted by the Supreme Court in 1999 that mandates the courts maintain and report information about their caseloads.

State Court Administrator Ronald Titus said the statistics provide vital case management information for the courts, the legislature, and local governments that fund many court functions.

During fiscal year 2007, the Nevada Supreme Court had 2,238 filings (a 3 percent increase over the prior year), making it one of the busiest appellate courts in the United States. Because Nevada has no intermediate Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court must consider all appeals filed and handle a variety of other matters.

The Supreme Court disposed of 2,193 cases in fiscal year 2007, an increase of 64 cases.

Among the trial courts, those in Clark County continue to be the busiest, but the courts in Washoe County are not far behind.

At the District Court level, 87,534 cases (compared to 83,271 cases in FY06) were filed at the Eighth Judicial District Court, translating to 2,501 cases filed per judge. At the Second Judicial District Court, 22,201 cases (compared to 20,965 cases in FY06) were filed, or 1,850 cases per judge.

Other Judicial District caseload rankings:

At the Justice Court level, Las Vegas Justice Court was the busiest with 14,550 cases filed per judge. Reno Justice Court was second with 4,950 cases per judge. Henderson Justice Court was third with 4,697 cases per judge. Sparks Justice Court was fourth with 4,032 cases per judge. North Las Vegas Justice Court was fifth with 3,702 cases per judge.

At the Municipal Court level, Las Vegas Municipal Court was the busiest court with 5,056 cases filed per judge. North Las Vegas Municipal Court was second place, with 3,577 cases per judge. Reno Municipal Court was third with 2,371 cases per judge. Henderson Municipal Court was fourth with 2,278. Sparks Municipal Court was fifth with 1,039 cases per judge.

The Annual Report also contains Chief Justice Maupin's State of the Judiciary speech to the 2007 Legislature, in addition to information about the use of Senior Judges and Justices. Still other statistics address drug and mental health courts, and traffic and parking violations.