Statistical data regarding state courts.

The National Center for State Courts

Appellate

Appellate courts, as the final arbiters of disputes, shape and define the law.

Appellate courts, whether at the intermediate or highest level, provide review of decisions of lower courts and, as the final arbiters of disputes, shape and define the law. In most states, appellate courts are required to review decisions in criminal cases when the defendant is sentenced to death. Appellate courts are also responsible for disciplining attorneys and judges for serious violations of ethics and conduct.

Most states divide their appellate system into two levels: an intermediate appellate court (IAC), which renders a first level of trial court review, and a court of last resort (COLR), which handles the most critical and important matters and appeals from the IACs. Only eleven states and the District of Columbia function without an IAC, while two states, Oklahoma and Texas, have more than one COLR.

Many of the analyses included here make a distinction between mandatory and discretionary caseloads in appellate courts. As the terms imply, mandatory jurisdiction over cases means that an appellate court is obligated by its state constitution or statutes to consider the merits of a case. Discretionary jurisdiction means the court decides whether it will grant review of a case.

Editor's note: Like the statement from the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the federal-court statistics that precede them in this issue, the state-court statistics in these charts were circulated to all attendees in advance of the 2005 National Conference on Appellate Justice. They informed all of the presentations and discussions at the National Conference.

Appellate court filings show a slight increase for the first time since 1998

* Total appellate court caseloads include original proceedings and appeals over which the appellate courts have mandatory, or discretionary jurisdiction. This trend shows annual filing data for state appellate courts for the last 10 years.

* Between 1993 and 1998 the number of appellate court filings increased 17 percent, from 254,000 to 297,000. Over the next five years, filings declined 6 percent to 278,000.

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Intermediate appellate courts handle most mandatory appeals

* Intermediate appellate courts provide first-level review, while courts of last resort are the final arbiters of disputes. This structure results in intermediate appellate courts handling the majority of appeals, Where there is no intermediate appellate court, a state supreme court conducts first and final appellate review.

* The caseloads in IACs and COLRs are reported here as filings of mandatory. appeals and discretionary petitions. Mandatory appeals in IACs outnumbered those in COLRs by a margin of 6 to 1. Conversely, there are more than two discretionary petitions filed in COLRs for every one filed in IACs.

Total Mandatory and Discretionary Caseloads in COLRs and IACs, 2002 Discretionary Mandatory (32%) (68%) Intermediate Appellate Courts 27,779 158,889 Courts of Last Resort 60,608 26,655 Note: Table made from bar graph. Appellate court filing rates vary widely across the states

* States in this table are divided into those with and without an intermediate appellate court and then ranked according to their number of appeals per 100,000 population. Caseloads are shown as percentages composed of mandatory appeals and discretionary petitions.

* When adjusted for population, Louisiana (population rank 24) reported the highest number of appeals (283 per 100,000 population) and North Carolina (population rank 11) reported the lowest (38 per 100,000 population).

* Proportions of mandatory and discretionary caseloads vary dramatically, but several states show 100 percent mandatory or discretionary jurisdiction. These proportions were based upon the number of cases reported in each category rather than actual mandated jurisdiction. Hence, a 100 percent designation in one category could simply mean that there were no cases filed in the other category in 2002.

Total Appellate Caseloads by State, 2002 Appeals per 100,000 Total Mandatory States Population Appeals Appeals With Intermediate Appellate Court Louisiana 283 12,706 29% Alabama 141 6,325 82 Florida 140 23,379 83 Puerto Rico 132 5,079 33 Pennsylvania 131 16,178 83 Now Jersey 123 10,546 72 Oregon 120 4,213 63 Alaska 114 736 74 Ohio 113 12,952 88 Nebraska 106 1,830 82 Texas 103 22,413 86 Kansas 99 2,678 67 Illinois 95 11,985 78 Michigan 94 9,429 44 Washington 94 5,692 70 Idaho 93 1,248 85 Kentucky 92 3,783 78 Hawaii 92 1,146 94 Arizona 91 4,951 76 Colorado 90 4,041 69 California 89 31,296 45 Virginia 88 6,440 11 New York 86 16,388 76 Arkansas 83 2,256 74 Wisconsin 83 4,522 75 Missouri 80 4,519 86 New Mexico 78 1,440 58 Iowa 73 2,137 100 South Carolina 70 2,856 59 Tennessee 65 3,784 61 Maryland 63 3,453 63 Georgia 60 5,132 88 Minnesota 59 2,942 74 Massachusetts 57 3,694 60 Utah 55 1,264 100 Indiana 52 3,185 77 Connecticut 49 1,693 71 Mississippi 49 1,401 78 North Carolina 38 3,157 55 Without an Intermediate Appellate Court Disirict of Columbia 266 1,520 96 West Virginia 147 2,653 0 Delaware 89 715 100 Montana 88 798 73 Vermont 86 530 97 Nevada 79 1,723 100 Rhode Island 70 754 45 New Hampshire 64 813 0 South Dakota 60 457 84 North Dakota 57 363 94 Maine 57 738 76 Discretionary Population States Petition Rank With Intermediate Appellate Court Louisiana 71% 24 Alabama 18 23 Florida 17 4 Puerto Rico 67 27 Pennsylvania 17 6 Now Jersey 28 9 Oregon 17 28 Alaska 26 48 Ohio 12 7 Nebraska 18 39 Texas 14 2 Kansas 33 33 Illinois 22 5 Michigan 56 8 Washington 30 15 Idaho 15 40 Kentucky 22 26 Hawaii 6 43 Arizona 24 19 Colorado 31 22 California 55 1 Virginia 89 12 New York 24 3 Arkansas 26 34 Wisconsin 25 20 Missouri 14 17 New Mexico 42 37 Iowa 0 31 South Carolina 41 25 Tennessee 39 16 Maryland 37 18 Georgia 32 10 Minnesota 26 21 Massachusetts 40 13 Utah 0 35 Indiana 23 14 Connecticut 29 30 Mississippi 22 32 North Carolina 45 11 Without an Intermediate Appellate Court Disirict of Columbia 4 51 West Virginia 100 38 Delaware 0 46 Montana 27 45 Vermont 3 50 Nevada 0 36 Rhode Island 55 44 New Hampshire 100 42 South Dakota 16 47 North Dakota 6 49 Maine 24 41 Notes: Oklahoma and Wyoming were unable to provide data for 2002. States in blue are the nation's 10 most populous. State appellate courts issued over 38,000 opinions

* Most appeals are resolved by opinions, memoranda/orders, or pre-argument dismissals. While opinions can be rendered through a variety of means, the data here capture only two: signed opinions and per curiam affirmed opinions. In 2002, 17 courts of last resort issued almost 3,700 such opinions while 24 intermediate appellate courts issued over 34,500.

* During 2002, these courts also issued more than 23,000 memoranda/orders and dismissed approximately 27,000 cases.

Manner of Disposition in 17 Courts of Last Resort and 24 Intermediate Appellate Courts, 2002 Number of Total Justices Dispositions Courts of Last Resort Florida 7 2,977 Nevada 7 2,454 Iowa 8 2,180 District of Columbia 9 1,836 Colorado 7 1,415 Washington 9 1,328 Pueto Rico 7 1,240 Indiana 5 1,103 Hawaii 5 847 Rhode stand 5 818 Montana 7 792 Delaware 5 713 Vermont 5 603 Alaska 5 516 South Dakota 5 428 Oregon 7 371 North Dakota 5 345 Intermediate Appellate Courts Ohio 68 10,627 Pennsylvania Superior Ct. 15 8,152 Michigan 28 7,647 New Jersey 34 7,280 Pennsylvania Commonwealth Ct. 9 4,753 Washington 22 4,306 Oregon 10 3.844 Missouri 32 3,661 Wisconsin 16 3,486 Georgia 12 3,389 Massachusetts 22 2,869 Alabama Ct. of Criminal Appeals 5 2,748 Colorado 16 2,463 Maryland 13 2,381 Minnesota 16 2,007 Kansas 10 1,742 Tennessee Ct. of Appeals 12 1,504 Alabama Ct. of Civil Appeals 5 1,306 Tennessee Ct. of Criminal Appeals 12 1,304 Connecticut 9 1,271 Iowa 9 1,231 Arkansas 12 1,200 New Mexico 10 855 Alaska 3 302 Opinions Signed Per Curiam Courts of Last Resort Florida 95 213 Nevada 38 61 Iowa 180 11 District of Columbia 339 575 Colorado 121 Washington 129 Pueto Rico 92 44 Indiana 195 18 Hawaii 191 Rhode stand 75 105 Montana 313 Delaware 71 19 Vermont 68 Alaska 182 68 South Dakota 164 Oregon 60 40 North Dakota 189 Intermediate Appellate Courts Ohio 6,992 Pennsylvania Superior Ct. 5,315 Michigan 212 102 New Jersey 431 3,560 Pennsylvania Commonwealth Ct. 1,746 Washington 1,846 Oregon 393 118 Missouri 1,686 Wisconsin 761 523 Georgia 1,401 Massachusetts 363 Alabama Ct. of Criminal Appeals 122 Colorado 291 Maryland 144 1,179 Minnesota 1,324 3 Kansas 1,246 Tennessee Ct. of Appeals 843 Alabama Ct. of Civil Appeals 323 Tennessee Ct. of Criminal Appeals 890 Connecticut 637 Iowa 1,144 70 Arkansas 629 New Mexico 152 Alaska 55 Non-Opinion Dispositions Memo/Order Pre-Argument Courts of Last Resort Florida 2,669 Nevada 1,767 588 Iowa 928 District of Columbia 865 Colorado 1,287 Washington 892 70 Pueto Rico 129 957 Indiana 190 687 Hawaii 257 Rhode stand 70 290 Montana 239 210 Delaware 546 77 Vermont 388 147 Alaska 95 South Dakota 167 64 Oregon 251 North Dakota 71 Intermediate Appellate Courts Ohio 3,389 Pennsylvania Superior Ct. 2,835 Michigan 3,636 1,793 New Jersey 250 3,039 Pennsylvania Commonwealth Ct. 2,722 Washington 264 1,593 Oregon 1,483 1,660 Missouri 103 1,200 Wisconsin 867 Georgia 643 567 Massachusetts 1,071 618 Alabama Ct. of Criminal Appeals 1,673 578 Colorado 1,330 834 Maryland 500 Minnesota 61 609 Kansas 292 Tennessee Ct. of Appeals 422 4 Alabama Ct. of Civil Appeals 574 358 Tennessee Ct. of Criminal Appeals 288 17 Connecticut 262 Iowa 14 Arkansas 43 New Mexico 541 145 Alaska 172 31 Non-Opinion Dispositions Transfered Other Courts of Last Resort Florida Nevada Iowa 1,015 46 District of Columbia 57 Colorado 7 Washington 118 119 Pueto Rico 18 Indiana 13 Hawaii 258 141 Rhode stand 278 Montana Delaware Vermont Alaska 171 South Dakota 33 Oregon 20 North Dakota 85 Intermediate Appellate Courts Ohio 246 Pennsylvania Superior Ct. 2 Michigan 1,904 New Jersey Pennsylvania Commonwealth Ct...