Total case filings down in 2012 except at Supreme Court

The total number of cases filed in Nevada's district courts actually went down from fiscal 2011 to 2012.

At the same time, the number of cases filed with Nevada's Supreme Court increased by 105 to 2,500.

At the district court level, total nontraffic cases filed fell about 4,000 to 127,367 in fiscal 2012. An increase of just under 500 criminal filings and just over 2,000 added family court cases was more than offset by decreases in civil and juvenile case filings which, together, went down more than 6,300.

The numbers are contained in the Annual Report of the Nevada Judiciary issued by the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Michael Cherry said the report is designed to provide the public with a detailed look at what the state's 170 trial judges - district, justice and municipal - as well as the seven-member Supreme Court did during the past fiscal year.

At the same time, the number of cases decided increased at both the trial court and Supreme Court levels. There were increases in all four categories of nontraffic cases decided by Nevada's district courts with total dispositions increasing 16,000 to 131,506.

At the Supreme Court, dispositions increased slightly from 2,220 to 2,270 leaving a total of 1,919 cases pending.

But the number of authored opinions issued by the high court increased from 67 to 86 in fiscal 2012.

Cherry pointed out that still makes Nevada's Supreme Court and its district courts among the busiest in the nation. That translates to 1,553 cases per judge at the district court level and 357 cases per Supreme Court justice.

"Appellate cases in general have become more complex and time consuming," said Cherry.

The report is available both as a printed document at the Administrative Office of the Courts in Carson C ity and Las Vegas or it can be downloaded from the Supreme Court website at www.nevadajudiciary.us