Report shows judges’ caseload heavier in 2009
CARSON CITY -- A report released Monday by the Nevada Supreme Court shows judges around the state are busier than ever, handling more than 400,000 new nontraffic cases in 2009 than the year before.
New traffic cases increased by nearly 1 million.
"The number of cases filed per judicial position substantially exceeds the level of cases handled by most courts in America," said Chief Justice James Hardesty.
Trial judges at the district, justice and municipal courts handled more than 439,000 new nontraffic cases in the fiscal year that ended June 30, an increase of nearly 23,000 from the year before. New traffic cases totaled about 932,000.
Civil cases statewide rose by more than 18,000 from 2008 to 201,441, marking the first time civil filings topped 200,000.
At the district court level, civil filings jumped 18.6 percent, while criminal cases decreased by about 7 percent. Family Court filings rose about 2 percent.
Statewide, family court cases made up nearly half the caseloads of district courts. Civil cases accounted for 31 percent, and criminal and juvenile cases each represented 10 percent.
Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, the state's population hub with about 2 million people, had 96,899 new cases filed last year, or 2,422 per judge.
In Reno, 20,760 cases were filed, or 1,597 cases per judge.
The Fifth Judicial District Court encompassing Esmeralda, Mineral and Nye counties was third busiest, with 3,123 cases, or 1,562 cases per judge, followed by the Fourth Judicial District in Elko County, where 2,585 cases, or 1,293 per judge, were filed.
Statewide, the average number of cases per district judge was 1,944.
"Remarkably, Nevada's judiciary as a whole cleared 92 percent of the all cases filed," Hardesty wrote in the 52-page report.
The Nevada Supreme Court received 2,152 new appeals in 2009, 86 fewer than the year before, and disposed of 2,167.
The report also said more than 3,400 defendants participated in "specialty court" programs designed to break the criminal cycle associated with drug and alcohol abuse.
In 2009, 1,418 defendants graduated from such programs, which incorporate law enforcement and court oversight with various treatment regimens.
Fifty-eight participants gave birth to drug-free babies during the year, the report said.
