The Need for a Court of
Appeals
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Now, more than ever before, Nevada
needs a Court of Appeals
We address three important
questions.
1. Why is the court of appeals
needed?
2. How will it operate?
3. What will it cost?
2
Nevada’s Current System
Nevada Supreme Court
7 Justices
District Court
82 Judges
Justice Court
67* Justices of the
Peace
*9 Justices serve in a dual capacity
as Municipal Court Judges
Municipal Court
21 Judges
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Why is the Court of Appeals
Needed?
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Currently, 56% of all appeals take more than six
months to be heard, with 29% taking more than one
year.
The Nevada Supreme Court hears every case that is
appealed from the lower courts, including driver’s
license revocation appeals and prisoner food
complaints.
The Nevada Supreme Court Justices have the
highest per-justice caseloads of any State Supreme
Court in the United States.
The burden is expected to grow dramatically.
In fiscal year 2012, 2,500 cases were filed. The
court resolved 2,270 cases leaving 1,990 cases
pending.
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Supreme Court Cases Filed and
Disposed
Projections for the 2013 – 2015 Biennium
FY 10
FY 11
FY 12
FY 13
FY 14* FY 15*
New Cases Filed
2,266
2,395
2,500
2,333
2,400
2,467
Cases Resolved
2,419
2,220
2,270
2,373
2,270
2,270
Cases Pending
1,514
1,689
1,919
1,879
2,009
2,206
*Projections for cases are based on an average annual increase in filings from FY10-FY12
•
It took 112 years – from statehood on October 31, 1864 until August 12, 1977 –
for the first 10,000 cases to be filed in the Nevada Supreme Court.
•
Over the next 30 years – from 1977 to August 13, 2007 – 40,000 more cases
were filed, 10,000 of which were filed between 2002-2007.
•
The 60,000th case was filed on January 9, 2012.
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Characteristics of Nevada and Other Selected States
Without Courts of Appeals.
All data from respective states’ most recent annual report or web page (2010-2012).
States Without an
Appeals Court
Population En Banc or
Ranking a
Panels Justices Cases Filed
Cases per
Justice
Nevada b
35
Both
7
2,500
357
West Virginia b,c
37
En Banc
5
1,668
334
Maine d
41
En Banc
7
690
99
New Hampshire d
42
Both
5
910
182
Rhode Island d
43
En Banc
5
418
84
Montana b
44
Both
7
775
111
Delaware b
45
Both
5
714
143
South Dakota b
46
En Banc
5
406
81
Vermont d
Wyoming b,e
49
50
En Banc
En Banc
5
5
480
265
96
53
a
b
c
d
e
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division,Table 1. Annual Estimates of the Population for the
United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011 (NST-EST2011-01).
State does not have discretionary case review , unless otherw ise noted.
Supreme Court changed from discretionary to nondiscretionary case review on December 1, 2010.
Includes mandatory cases and total discretionary petitions filed.
Fiscal year 2009 information per CSP 2009 (http://w w w .courtstatistics.org/).
Ballot Question 1 Proposal
 Minimum of three judges
Nevada Supreme Court
 Statewide jurisdiction
 Utilizes existing
infrastructure
 Supreme Court Building
(Northern NV)
 Regional Justice Center
(Southern NV)
 No facility costs,
operating costs of
$1,497,000 per fiscal
year, which include the
salaries of the Judges
and their staff
Appellate
Court
District
Court
Justice
Court
Municipal
Court
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Nevada Court of Appeals
Ballot Question 1
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3-Judge Court sitting in the Regional
Justice Center and hearing cases in Carson
City
Using a push down model, approximately
700 select cases assigned to the Court of
Appeals
No need for a new court clerk or central
legal staff
No added judicial bureaucracy with Writ of
Certiorari review only to the Supreme
Court
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Nevada Court of Appeals
Ballot Question 1
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Article 6 of Nevada’s Constitution would be amended by
adding new section 3A and amending section 4 to provide in
part:
Sec. 3A “1. The court of appeals consists of three judges or
such greater number as the Legislature may provide by law
. . . .”
“Sec. 3A “2. After the initial terms, each judge of the court
of appeals must be elected by the qualified electors of this
State at the general election for a term of 6 years . . . . The
initial three judges of the court of appeals must be appointed
by the Governor . . . . The term of the initial judges is 2
years beginning on the first Monday of January next after
the effective date of this Section . . . .”
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Operating Costs are offset by Supreme
Court reversions to the State General fund
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Fiscal year 2009 the Nevada
Supreme Court reverted nearly
$2,500,000 to the General Fund
Fiscal year 2010 the Nevada
Supreme Court reverted $872,571
to the General Fund
Fiscal year 2011 the Nevada
Supreme Court reverted $1,287,378
to the General Fund
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Benefits of the Court of Appeals
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Will allow the state Supreme Court to focus on
important issues
Reduce case backlog
Operated at minimal cost to the State
Efficiently manage all appeals so parties can
quickly receive a decision and move on with their
lives
Maintain high quality in the judicial process
Ensure appellate decisions are rendered in a timely
manner
Establish an error correction court
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