Summary of Reported Activity

For the Years Ended August 31, 1989 through August 31, 1998

                         
Supreme Court     1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
                         
Number of Justices     9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
                         
Regular Causes:                        
  Added to docket   141 158 154 171 176 190 133 152 120 115
  Disposed of   138 154 145 169 194 187 160 142 121 108
  Pending at end of year   60 64 81 83 66 67 41 52 57 63
                         
Petitions for Review:                        
  Filed   ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 949
  Disposed of:                      
    Granted ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 52
    Other dispositions ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 613
  Pending at end of year   ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 284
                         
Applications for Writs of Error:                        
  Filed   821 866 1,055 1,096 1,171 1,054 1,021 989 983 55
  Disposed of:                      
    Granted 76 84 130 145 167 125 132 150 104 75
    Other dispositions 705 792 921 1,009 1,076 968 865 861 832 364
  Pending at end of year   353 343 424 389 354 317 353 337 389 14
                         
Other Writs and Motions:                        
  Filed   1,632 1,708 1,502 1,628 1,937 1,694 1,936 2,004 2,029 1,940
  Disposed of   1,312 1,555 1,462 1,540 2,004 2,017 1,917 2,028 1,980 1,992
  Pending at end of year   113 118 158 279 179 173 227 196 244 129
                         
Opinions Written     174 187 211 233 295 229 246 183 179 222
                         
Court of Criminal Appeals     1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
                         
Number of Judges     9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
                         
Direct Appeals:                        
  Added to docket   * 445 203 176 201 243 202 245 318 422 298
  Disposed of   525 202 154 238 286 216 232 323 447 301
  Pending at end of year   237 224 246 209 138 124 137 132 107 104
                         
Petitions for Discretionary Review:                        
  Filed   1,792 1,380 1,340 1,691 1,610 1,477 1,439 1,847 1,677 1,983
  Disposed of:                      
    Granted 246 202 210 199 165 148 112 211 111 173
    Refused or dismissed 1,861 1,150 1,177 1,327 1,491 1,523 1,340 1,568 1,533 1,566
  Pending at end of year   438 466 465 630 598 407 395 466 500 744
                         
Writs of Habeas Corpus, etc.:                        
  Filed   2,985 2,078 2,013 2,550 2,627 3,396 * 4,199 * 4,730 * 5,782 6,416
  Disposed of   3,281 2,285 2,119 2,244 2,437 3,412 4,550 4,232 5,709 6,187
  Pending at end of year   525 318 212 518 708 692 597 1,019 1,151 1,274
                         
Motions Considered     1,955 1,824 1,462 1,427 1,271 1,447 1,423 2,578 1,731 2,229
                         
Opinions Written     1,133 561 592 642 679 468 526 749 747 652
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
                         
1 Generally, cases in which there is an oral argument and a written opinion.                      
2 Effective 9/1/97, Petitions for Review replaced Applications for Writs of Error.                      
* Corrected from last report.                      
                         
Courts of Appeals     1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
                         
No. of Courts/Total No. of Justices     14/80 14/80 14/80 14/80 14/80 14/80 14/80 14/80 14/80 14/80
                         
Civil Cases:                        
  Added to docket   4,008 4,114 4,064 4,913 4,213 4,380 4,462 4,748 4,805 5,358
  Disposed of   3,789 4,047 3,968 4,482 4,597 4,087 4,545 4,465 4,517 4,722
  Pending at end of year   2,459 2,545 2,640 3,076 2,663 2,987 2,781 3,097 3,405 4,047
                         
Criminal Cases:                        
  Added to docket   4,508 4,214 4,749 6,125 5,542 5,210 5,635 6,391 6,718 7,144
  Disposed of   4,627 4,087 4,123 4,799 5,057 5,456 5,104 5,699 6,732 7,014
  Pending at end of year   3,704 3,847 4,485 5,827 6,353 6,140 6,657 7,373 7,404 7,528
                         
Opinions Written     7,993 7,511 7,545 8,875 9,379 9,301 9,172 9,950 10,480 11,457
                         
District Courts     1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
                         
Number of Courts (Average)     375 384 386 386 386 386 386 396 396 396
                         
Civil Cases:                        
  Added to docket   440,404 454,991 451,435 450,758 450,163 448,075 473,768 466,840 466,956 443,095
  Disposed of   449,335 448,360 454,010 463,518 452,103 438,727 442,008 470,210 477,217 450,583
  Pending at end of year   505,092 517,044 514,237 514,309 516,888 523,836 554,928 559,646 547,966 539,273
                         
Criminal Cases:                        
  Added to docket   188,576 198,603 198,374 210,968 210,700 208,718 201,471 204,227 213,667 215,958
  Disposed of:                      
    Convictions 84,587 90,607 91,282 88,099 88,947 81,332 79,112 77,589 81,513 83,101
    Other dispositions 92,711 98,123 102,991 111,091 117,265 119,125 121,681 119,073 127,842 128,529
  Pending at end of year   129,263 140,226 144,220 156,285 161,041 168,467 169,063 177,236 182,391 188,329
                         
Juvenile Cases:                        
  Added to docket   14,164 15,386 17,310 18,897 20,359 23,517 24,473 33,103 36,554 37,261
  Disposed of   13,073 14,553 16,426 18,422 19,907 21,627 24,451 29,763 34,656 36,026
  Pending at end of year   6,927 7,693 8,643 9,221 9,321 10,397 10,219 13,938 15,430 16,507
                         
County-Level Courts     1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
                         
Number of Courts:                        
  Constitutional   254 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 254
  Statutory (average)   172 174 174 181 185 185 189 191 191 191
                         
Civil Cases:                        
  Added to docket:                      
    Original cases 90,533 91,603 93,735 85,773 84,371 86,312 90,647 * 94,352 * 99,496 99,818
    Appeals from lower courts 3,037 3,122 3,326 3,153 2,915 2,853 3,435 3,753 3,266 2,976
  Disposed of:   101,802 90,495 96,066 90,635 92,654 87,820 87,704 93,856 104,167 100,376
  Pending at end of year   155,583 163,114 169,330 171,028 166,775 162,905 169,056 167,825 167,088 165,183
                         
Criminal Cases:                        
  Added to docket:                      
    Original cases 362,199 387,353 399,016 449,472 448,874 458,973 498,068 * 506,687 * 508,519 536,107
    Appeals from lower courts 70,558 69,613 64,352 78,227 95,573 60,635 70,246 44,419 30,770 35,891
  Disposed of:                      
    Convictions 218,176 227,677 231,319 231,344 226,960 217,404 229,172 235,434 245,786 254,403
    Other dispositions 244,225 241,128 275,753 259,890 295,737 329,666 309,652 310,148 301,306 287,821
  Pending at end of year   472,509 485,120 478,285 515,250 535,552 547,070 566,680 571,914 562,994 590,479
                         
Juvenile Cases:                        
  Added to docket   2,889 3,058 3,518 4,073 4,577 5,103 5,500 * 6,111 * 7,336 7,901
  Disposed of   2,651 3,033 3,284 3,548 4,342 4,754 5,272 5,837 6,736 7,697
  Pending at end of year   1,560 1,493 1,707 2,188 2,243 2,564 2,778 3,069 3,645 4,003
                         
Probate Cases Filed     54,244 55,385 53,521 53,720 54,434 54,898 55,192 55,819 55,452 55,185
                         
Probate Hearings Held     78,324 77,662 78,859 80,346 79,519 78,619 82,413 79,663 81,641 76,669
                         
Mental Health Cases Filed     22,553 21,760 21,460 21,310 19,922 21,174 26,783 25,403 26,434 26,063
                         
Mental Health Hearings Held     35,318 30,732 27,385 24,364 24,405 24,401 31,276 30,145 32,180 30,977
                         
* Corrected from last report.

Return to 1998 Annual Report