Nevada Judiciary

The 2009 Annual Report of the Nevada Judiciary has been released, providing for the first time comparative statistics for the past 10 years, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice James W. Hardesty announced.

Those statistics show that civil cases have increased dramatically, particularly during the past three years, while criminal cases have shown only modest increases.

Family Court cases showed gradual and consistent increases during the past decade.

Juvenile cases grew between FY00 and FY04, but have leveled off since then and the numbers actually declined slightly during the past two years.

The 51-page annual report is available to the public as a printed document at the Administrative Office of the Courts in Carson City or Las Vegas or CLICK HERE to download the report from the Supreme Court website.

“The Report details not only the workloads of every court in the state, but also provides information about the numerous programs that have made our court system one of the most progressive in the country,” Chief Justice Hardesty said.

“The number of cases filed per judicial position substantially exceeds the level of cases handled by most courts in America,” Chief Justice Hardesty said.  “But Nevada’s judges have consistently provided fair and accessible justice, upheld the rights of the parties, and preserved community welfare and safety.”

The Annual Report is based on statistics the trial courts have provided in a uniform manner since 1999, at the direction of the Supreme Court.  

“Our annual reports have become an invaluable tool for the courts, the Legislature, the Executive Branch and local governments to assess our work and plan for the future of the Nevada judicial system,” Chief Justice Hardesty said.

During fiscal year 2009, the Nevada Supreme Court had 2,152 filings, making it one of the busiest appellate courts in the United States. The number of filings was slightly lower than the number filed in fiscal year 2008.  

The Supreme Court, however, disposed of 2,167 cases, reducing the number of pending cases from 1,682 a year ago to 1,667.

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 published 98 formal opinions, eight more than fiscal year 2008.

FY 09 ANNUAL REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

Statewide, Nevada’s 167 trial judges at the District, Justice, and Municipal Courts received more than 439,000 new non-traffic cases during fiscal year 2009, an increase of nearly 23,000 from fiscal year 2008.  At the same time, more than 932,000 new traffic cases were received at the courts.

Civil cases increased by more than 18,387 cases from last year to 201,441 – the first time civil cases have topped 200,000.

At the District Court level, civil filings jumped by 18.6 percent while criminal case filings decreased by more than 7 percent.  Family Court filings increased just over 2 percent.

At the Justice Court level, civil caseloads increased by more than 8 percent while criminal caseloads inched up nearly 3 percent.

Municipal Court criminal non-traffic caseloads increased by more than 4 percent, rebounding from FY08, when cases decreased about 6 percent.  The FY09 total of 57,458 cases was still below the caseload levels of FY05-07.


BUSIEST COURTS

Among the trial courts, those in Clark County continue to be the busiest.

At the District Court level, 96,899 cases were filed at the Eighth Judicial District Court (Clark County), translating to 2,422 cases filed per judge.  At the Second Judicial District Court (Washoe County), 20,760 cases were filed, or 1,597 cases per judge.  The Fifth Judicial District (Esmeralda, Mineral, and Nye Counties) was third with 3,123 cases, or 1,562 cases per judge.  The Fourth Judicial District (Elko County) was fourth with 2,585 cases filed, or 1,293 cases per judge.

The average number of cases per district judge in Nevada is 1,944.  

At the Justice Court level, Las Vegas Justice Court was the busiest with 14,967 non-traffic cases filed per judge.  Reno Justice Court was second with 4,786 cases per judge. Sparks Justice Court was third with 4,454 cases per judge.  Henderson Justice Court was fourth with 3,734 cases per judge.

Statewide, the average non-traffic cases filed per judicial position in Justice Court is 3,995.

At the Municipal Court level, Las Vegas Municipal Court was the busiest court, with 4,582 non-traffic cases filed per judge. North Las Vegas Municipal Court was second, with 4,430 cases per judge. Henderson Municipal Court was third with 2,721 cases per judge.

The average number of non-traffic cases per Municipal Court judge in Nevada is 2,052.

THE WORK OF THE COURTS

In addition to caseload statistics, the Annual Report provides information about the achievements, programs, commissions and committees of the Nevada Judiciary that do not surface in the statistical reports.

The commissions, such as the Indigent Defense Commission and Access to Justice Commission, have been created to help improve the efficiency and openness of the courts.  

Achievements include the Supreme Court oral arguments held in schools across the state, the webcasting of oral arguments, new legislation, the successes of Business Courts, and the return of $2.5 million by the Supreme Court to the State General Fund to help ease the budget shortfall.

Programs include the Foreclosure Mediation Program, the medical malpractice settlement marathon, the use of senior judges, and efforts to better educate Nevada’s judges.

The report also highlights the Supreme Court’s new E-filing system and a rule change that will let attorneys in some cases appear by video or telephone conference.

APPENDIX

While the volume of statistics increased during FY09, the printed annual report is smaller because appendix tables were excluded to reduce costs.  CLICK HERE to download the Appendix.