Ind. Courts Cost $393M To Operate In 2010

Source: Indiana Supreme Court

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Indiana’s trial courts had a busy 2010 taking on over 1.8 million new cases.

New data released Monday by the Indiana Supreme Court shows there were over 1,859,870 new cases last year, up three percent from 2001 but down slightly from 2009.

“The work of the courts cannot be summed up in numbers, but the 2010 statistics report does offer a snapshot of the volume, breadth, challenges and success stories in each of the courthouses in Indiana’s 92 counties,” said Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard.

Of all the cases, only 1,514 went to jury trial.

Dollar-wise, all that paperwork, manhours, and other costs add up. Cities, towns, townships, counties and the state spent $393,333,305 to operate the courts last year.

Fees, court costs, and fines helped to cover much of the expenses by generating $232,656,052.

Indiana had 205 murder cases filed statewide last year, down 27 percent from 2002.

Other statistics from the annual report:

-1,799,330 new cases were filed in Indiana courts in 2001

-361,969 cases included self-represented litigants

-There were 41,274 mortgage foreclosure filings in the state

-Mortgage foreclosure filings increased 39% from 2002 to 2010

-12,160 Child In Need of Services, or CHINS cases, were filed in 2010

-3,268 individuals served as CASA volunteers

-There has been a 126% increase in Termination of Parental Rights cases since 2001

-An interpreter was used in 14,978 trial court cases

-147,589 adults and juveniles are being supervised by Indiana court probation departments