Nevada Judiciary

Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice James W. Hardesty has announced the release of the Annual Report of the Nevada Judiciary for fiscal year 2008.

The 60-page report is available to the public as a printed document at the Administrative Office of the Courts in Carson City or Las Vegas or can be downloaded from the Supreme Court website.

This is the ninth annual report that has been published by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

“The Report details not only the caseloads of every court in the state, but also the numerous programs that have made our court system one of the most progressive in the country,” Chief Justice Hardesty said. “In these tough economic times, I am proud of our judges who make the extra effort to find better ways of providing fair, impartial, and timely justice.”

The Annual Report is based on statistics that the Supreme Court has required the trial courts to keep and report in a uniform manner since 1999. These statistics also provide vital case management information for the courts themselves.

During fiscal year 2008, the Nevada Supreme Court had 2,238 filings, making it one of the busiest appellate courts in the United States. The number of filings was identical to the number filed in fiscal year 2007. 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 more than 1,950 cases during fiscal year 2008. Among those were numerous ballot initiatives and term limits issues, which had to be decided on an emergency bases at the end of the fiscal year before Nevada’s Primary Election.

The Supreme Court published 90 formal opinions.

Statewide, Nevada’s 154 trial judges at the District, Justice, and Municipal Courts received 415,991 new non-traffic cases during fiscal year 2008. At the same time, 925,624 new traffic cases were received at the courts.

Non-traffic case filings, however, showed only slight overall increases with the exception of civil cases, which increased by more than 10,000 cases to 182,879 cases.

At the District Court level, civil filings jumped almost 10 percent while criminal case filings decreased by almost 3 percent. Family Court filings were flat.

At the Justice Court level, caseloads increased by about 5 percent in both civil and criminal.

Municipal Court criminal non-traffic caseloads decreased about 6 percent.

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

At the District Court level, 90,952 cases were filed at the Eighth Judicial District Court (Clark County), translating to 2,458 cases filed per judge. At the Second Judicial District Court (Washoe County), 21,574 cases were filed, or 1,798 cases per judge. The Fourth Judicial District (Elko County) was third with 2,540 cases filed, or 1,270 cases per judge.

The average number of cases per district judge in Nevada is 1,964. Among other western states, Nevada is second highest. Oregon is first, with 2,011 cases per judge. Below Nevada are California (1,676), Washington (1,670), Arizona (1,038), Hawaii (658), Alaska (497), and Idaho (477).

Among those same states, Nevada has the fewest judges per 100,000 population, at 2.4. Alaska is at the top of the list, with 5.9 judges per 100,000 population.

At the Justice Court level, Las Vegas Justice Court was the busiest with 14,641 cases filed per judge. Henderson Justice Court was second with 5,547 cases per judge. Reno Justice Court was third with 4,727 cases per judge.

At the Municipal Court level, North Las Vegas Municipal Court was the busiest court, with 4,461 cases filed per judge. Las Vegas Municipal Court was in second place, with 4,210 cases per judge. Henderson Municipal Court was third with 2,516 cases per judge.

In addition to caseload statistics, the Annual Report provides information about such programs as drug and mental health courts, judicial education, technology, court interpreters, and the Supreme Court commissions and committees.

CONTACT:

Bill Gang
Public Information Officer
Nevada Supreme Court
702-486-3232 office
702-279-6375 mobile