The 2017 annual statistical data from the federal courts of the United States has been released, and the long, slow path of the vanishing jury trial in the federal courts continues.
About 54% of federal civil trial were one day. About 22% were two to three days. About 22% were four to nine days. About 3% were ten to nineteen days and 0.26% were twenty days or more. The total doesn't add to 100% due to rounding errors.Overall civil trials declined 7 percent (down 338 trials) to 4,234. Forty-nine districts reported fewer civil trials. Civil nonjury trials fell by 136 trials to 2,678, with 42 districts reporting decreases. Civil jury trials dropped 11 percent (down 202 trials) to 1,556, with 47 districts reporting reductions.
Roughly one in two hundred federal civil cases are concluded with a civil jury trial. Colorado had 35 civil bench trials and 34 civil jury trials in 2017. It takes a median of 23.3 months for a civil case resolved with a bench trial in federal court to get to trial and a median of 28.2 months for a civil case resolved with a jury trial in federal court to get to trial.
Overall criminal trials decreased 4 percent to 6,900 (down 282 trials) as 50 district courts reported reductions in criminal trials. Criminal nonjury trials declined 3 percent to 5,158 (down 135 trials), with 50 district courts reporting lower numbers of these trials. Criminal jury trials fell 8 percent to 1,742 (down 147 trials) as 51 district courts reported fewer trials of this type. Article III judges accepted guilty pleas from 62,245 felony defendants, down less than 1 percent from 62,468 in 2016.Federal criminal trials tend to be shorter than federal civil trials (although some of this reflects trials that do not end in a verdict, e.g. by a plea bargain during trial). About 71% of federal criminal trial were one day. About 16% were two to three days. About 11% were four to nine days. About 1.7% were ten to nineteen days and 0.35% were twenty days or more. The total doesn't add to 100% due to rounding errors.
It takes a median of 10.4 months from notice of appeal to the final order in the U.S. Courts of Appeal to resolve an appeal, and the median appeal is resolved 30.4 months after the case was initially filed in the trial court.
In state court, criminal trials are overwhelmingly jury trials, but in federal court, bench trials outnumber jury trials by three to one. Less than three percent of criminal defendants in federal court take their cases to a jury trial. Colorado had 40 criminal bench trials and 10 criminal jury trials in 2017.
By comparison, in Colorado's state courts for fiscal year 2017:
In District Courts (the courts of general jurisdiction) and Denver Juvenile Court combined, there were 247 civil bench trials and 218 civil jury trials; there were 15 criminal bench trials and 973 criminal jury trials; there were 264 juvenile bench trials (mostly felony juvenile crime cases) and 44 juvenile jury trials (almost all termination of parental rights cases). No data was available for trials in Denver Probate Court where there were 147 formal testate probate cases where there was a right to a jury trial. There were 198 district court judges, 3 Denver Juvenile Court judges and there was 1 Denver Probate Court judge. There are a bit less than 9 trials (bench and jury combined) per judge per year at this level.
Trials do not reflect evidentiary hearings in domestic relations or mental health or probate cases, or pre-trial evidentiary hearings (e.g. on preliminary injunction requests, eviction hearings, or Rule 120 foreclosure requests).
In 2017, there were 89,632 civil cases filed, 51,775 criminal cases filed, 23,339 juvenile cases filed, 35,057 domestic relations cases filed, 7,947 mental health cases filed, 16,619 probate cases filed, and 1,068 water cases (involving 4,937 water claims) filed. Water cases are handled by one of seven water court judges who simultaneously serve as District Court judges. There are 1,116 cases per judge per year at this level.
In 2017 in the Colorado Court of Appeals (which hears appeals from District Courts, Denver Juvenile Court, Denver Probate Court and certain state agencies and has 22 judges), there were 989 criminal appeals filed, 874 civil appeals filed, 151 Industrial Claims Appeal Office appeals filed, and 341 other appeals (juvenile, agency, etc.) filed. Only about 7.5% of Colorado Court of Appeals cases produce published opinions. There are 107 cases per judge per year at this level although cases are generally decided by three judge panels, so each judge deals with an average of 321 cases per year.
In 2017, the Colorado Supreme Court, which has seven justices, had 1,285 filings of which 99 were civil cases for which there are direct appeals (mostly water law cases, ballot issue title disputes, judicial discipline and attorney regulation) and 27 were multi-district litigation hearings. It resolved 109 cases with written opinions. The remaining cases were resolved almost entirely with denials of petitions for certiorari and denials for requests for interlocutory relief of several types, or with pro-forma ratifications of matters subject to direct appeal. Every judge participates in almost every case except multidistrict litigation hearings.
In County Courts (the courts of limited jurisdiction with 145 judges), there were 801 civil bench trials, 14 civil jury trials, and 1,657 small claims court trials; there were 103 misdemeanor bench trials and 737 misdemeanor jury trials; there were 100 traffic bench trials and 585 traffic jury trials; and there were 3,912 infraction bench trials. There are a bit less than 55 trials (bench and jury combined) per judge per year at this level.
In County Court in 2017 there were 140,462 civil cases filed, 7,118 small claims cases filed, 61,298 misdemeanor cases filed (including 1 municipal court appeal) and 115,370 traffic cases filed (including 4 municipal court appeals). There are 2,236 cases per judge per year at this level.
Thus, for Colorado as a whole jury trials broke down as follows:
Total Jury Trials: 2,619 (about 1.7% of jury trials in Colorado are in federal court)
Civil Jury Trials: 270 (about 10.3% of all jury trials in Colorado are civil jury trials)
34 in U.S. District Court,
218 in state District Courts (1 in 411 civil filings), and
14 in County Court (1 in 10,000 non-small claims cases).
In federal court 49% of civil trials are jury trials. In state District Court 47% of civil trials are jury trials. In County Court 1.7% of civil trials are jury trials (excluding small claims court cases).
These rates are not adjusted for civil case types for which jury trials are not available (e.g. distaint warrants ratifying tax judgments, Rule 120 motions, foreign judgment registrations, appeals, name change requests, restraining orders, injunction cases, etc.). These rates are also not adjusted for default judgments.
Nationally, about 75% of civil jury trials are personal injury or discrimination cases, and about 25% involve fraud or breaches of contract or other claims.
About 12.6% of civil jury trials in Colorado are conducted in federal court.
Criminal and Quasi-Criminal Jury Trials: 2,349 (about 89.7% of all jury trials in Colorado)
10 in U.S. District Court,
973 in state District Court (1 in 53 criminal filings),
44 in state juvenile cases (1 in 530 juvenile filings),
737 in County Court misdemeanor cases (1 in 83 misdemeanor filings), and
585 in County Court traffic cases (1 in 197 traffic filings).
In federal court 20% of criminal trials are jury trials. In state District Court 98% of criminal trials are jury trials. In County Court 88% of misdemeanor trials are jury trials and 85% of traffic case trials are jury trials (excluding infractions).
Just 0.4% of criminal or quasi-criminal jury trials in Colorado are conducted in federal court.
The cost of a state court judge (simply dividing all judicial department appropriations by the number of judges) is less than $1.421 million per judge per year, and in some areas (e.g. the Court of Appeals) the cost per judge is considerably less because the non-judicial staff (e.g. probation officers) per judge is lower.
By comparison, in Colorado's state courts for fiscal year 2017:
In District Courts (the courts of general jurisdiction) and Denver Juvenile Court combined, there were 247 civil bench trials and 218 civil jury trials; there were 15 criminal bench trials and 973 criminal jury trials; there were 264 juvenile bench trials (mostly felony juvenile crime cases) and 44 juvenile jury trials (almost all termination of parental rights cases). No data was available for trials in Denver Probate Court where there were 147 formal testate probate cases where there was a right to a jury trial. There were 198 district court judges, 3 Denver Juvenile Court judges and there was 1 Denver Probate Court judge. There are a bit less than 9 trials (bench and jury combined) per judge per year at this level.
Trials do not reflect evidentiary hearings in domestic relations or mental health or probate cases, or pre-trial evidentiary hearings (e.g. on preliminary injunction requests, eviction hearings, or Rule 120 foreclosure requests).
In 2017, there were 89,632 civil cases filed, 51,775 criminal cases filed, 23,339 juvenile cases filed, 35,057 domestic relations cases filed, 7,947 mental health cases filed, 16,619 probate cases filed, and 1,068 water cases (involving 4,937 water claims) filed. Water cases are handled by one of seven water court judges who simultaneously serve as District Court judges. There are 1,116 cases per judge per year at this level.
In 2017 in the Colorado Court of Appeals (which hears appeals from District Courts, Denver Juvenile Court, Denver Probate Court and certain state agencies and has 22 judges), there were 989 criminal appeals filed, 874 civil appeals filed, 151 Industrial Claims Appeal Office appeals filed, and 341 other appeals (juvenile, agency, etc.) filed. Only about 7.5% of Colorado Court of Appeals cases produce published opinions. There are 107 cases per judge per year at this level although cases are generally decided by three judge panels, so each judge deals with an average of 321 cases per year.
In 2017, the Colorado Supreme Court, which has seven justices, had 1,285 filings of which 99 were civil cases for which there are direct appeals (mostly water law cases, ballot issue title disputes, judicial discipline and attorney regulation) and 27 were multi-district litigation hearings. It resolved 109 cases with written opinions. The remaining cases were resolved almost entirely with denials of petitions for certiorari and denials for requests for interlocutory relief of several types, or with pro-forma ratifications of matters subject to direct appeal. Every judge participates in almost every case except multidistrict litigation hearings.
In County Courts (the courts of limited jurisdiction with 145 judges), there were 801 civil bench trials, 14 civil jury trials, and 1,657 small claims court trials; there were 103 misdemeanor bench trials and 737 misdemeanor jury trials; there were 100 traffic bench trials and 585 traffic jury trials; and there were 3,912 infraction bench trials. There are a bit less than 55 trials (bench and jury combined) per judge per year at this level.
In County Court in 2017 there were 140,462 civil cases filed, 7,118 small claims cases filed, 61,298 misdemeanor cases filed (including 1 municipal court appeal) and 115,370 traffic cases filed (including 4 municipal court appeals). There are 2,236 cases per judge per year at this level.
Thus, for Colorado as a whole jury trials broke down as follows:
Total Jury Trials: 2,619 (about 1.7% of jury trials in Colorado are in federal court)
Civil Jury Trials: 270 (about 10.3% of all jury trials in Colorado are civil jury trials)
34 in U.S. District Court,
218 in state District Courts (1 in 411 civil filings), and
14 in County Court (1 in 10,000 non-small claims cases).
In federal court 49% of civil trials are jury trials. In state District Court 47% of civil trials are jury trials. In County Court 1.7% of civil trials are jury trials (excluding small claims court cases).
These rates are not adjusted for civil case types for which jury trials are not available (e.g. distaint warrants ratifying tax judgments, Rule 120 motions, foreign judgment registrations, appeals, name change requests, restraining orders, injunction cases, etc.). These rates are also not adjusted for default judgments.
Nationally, about 75% of civil jury trials are personal injury or discrimination cases, and about 25% involve fraud or breaches of contract or other claims.
About 12.6% of civil jury trials in Colorado are conducted in federal court.
Criminal and Quasi-Criminal Jury Trials: 2,349 (about 89.7% of all jury trials in Colorado)
10 in U.S. District Court,
973 in state District Court (1 in 53 criminal filings),
44 in state juvenile cases (1 in 530 juvenile filings),
737 in County Court misdemeanor cases (1 in 83 misdemeanor filings), and
585 in County Court traffic cases (1 in 197 traffic filings).
In federal court 20% of criminal trials are jury trials. In state District Court 98% of criminal trials are jury trials. In County Court 88% of misdemeanor trials are jury trials and 85% of traffic case trials are jury trials (excluding infractions).
Just 0.4% of criminal or quasi-criminal jury trials in Colorado are conducted in federal court.
The cost of a state court judge (simply dividing all judicial department appropriations by the number of judges) is less than $1.421 million per judge per year, and in some areas (e.g. the Court of Appeals) the cost per judge is considerably less because the non-judicial staff (e.g. probation officers) per judge is lower.
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