The Annual Statistical Report for the Vermont Judiciary presents
considerable detail about the cases filed, disposed and pending
in Vermont's courts: the Supreme Court, Superior Courts, District
Courts, Family Courts, Vermont Traffic Bureau, Environmental
Court and Probate Courts.
A summary table shows statewide
comparisons for the annual filings and end-of-year pending
caseload for each type of case in each court.
Highlights of the report include:
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court closed 699 cases despite an increase in the
number of cases filed in FY1993. Pending cases have decreased
nine percent, from 588 cases at the end of FY1992 to 508 cases. The Court's backlog has been reduced by 34.1% since
FY1989.
Superior Court
Superior Court filings decreased substantially, continuing the
trend begun in FY1992. There were 6,362 cases added in FY1993
compared to 7,652 new filings during FY1992, a 16.8 percent
reduction. Civil case filings have not been this low since
FY1980. As a result, the Superior Courts reduced the entire
pending caseload by 16.1% and the number of cases over one year
old by 16.9% in FY1993.
District Court
There were fewer cases filed in Vermont's District Courts in
FY1993 and fewer cases pending at year's end than in FY1992.
New felony cases dropped by 3.4%, after a sharp increase in
FY1992 caused by the reclassification of third DWI offenses as
felonies. Misdemeanor filings decreased by 4.3% in FY1993. As a
result of the drop in new cases, there were fewer pending at the
end of the year, with pending felony cases reduced by 3.5% and
misdemeanor cases by 6.7%.
The Small Claims docket showed a significant decrease in pending
cases; there were 2,164 open cases at the end of FY1993 compared
to 3,400 in FY1992 - a reduction of 36.4%. The drop in
pending cases far exceeded the decrease in filings - down 7.9
percent from FY1992 - and the Small Claims backlog is the lowest
it has been since 1984.
There were also reductions in Uniform Traffic Ticket filings,
Fish and Wildlife, Snowmobile and Boating Ticket filings and
Civil Suspension complaints.
The only District Court docket reporting increased filings
was Traffic Appeals; there were 369 appeals of traffic
complaint judgments, an increase of 7.3 percent. However, these
cases were resolved quickly as the number of pending appeals
decreased sharply, by 33.6%, when compared to the number of cases
pending at the end of FY1992.
Vermont Traffic Bureau
In FY1993, there were 76,363 traffic complaints filed at the
Vermont Traffic Bureau, an 8.9% decrease from the 83,828 cases
added in FY1992. However, 1993 filings still exceeded the 70,653
new complaints reported in FY1991. The number of cases pending
at the end of FY1993 increased by 0.6 percent.
Family Court
Several Family Court dockets showed significant growth in FY1993.
Although Juvenile filings increased by 10.4% - mostly in
delinquency cases - there was only a slight increase in the
number of cases pending at the end of the year. There was an eleven percent increase in Relief from Domestic Abuse
filings, with 4,057 cases added, reversing the 6.8% decrease
reported in FY1992. Interstate child support enforcement
(U.R.E.S.A.) cases increased by 6.7% in FY1993.
Divorce and annulment filings remained at FY1992 levels with a
slight increase reported in desertion, separation and parentage
cases (the "Other Domestic" docket). However, postjudgment
filings in these dockets grew substantially, by 10.2%,
compared to FY1992; many of these filings relate to the
modification of child support orders. The number of postjudgment
cases pending actually decreased, by 10.2%, from the pending
caseload reported at the end of FY1992.
Environmental Court
FY1993 was the first full year for the Environmental Court.
There were eighty-one filings and eighty-one cases disposed.
Probate Court
Despite a 6.5% increase in new cases, the Probate Courts did not
see a significant increase in the pending caseload. For example,
although there was a 12.1% increase in Decedent Estate filings,
the number of cases pending at the end of FY1993 was actually
reduced by 1.3%. |
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