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The annual statistical report for the Vermont Judiciary presents
information about the flow of cases in Vermont's courts: the Supreme
Court, Superior Courts, District Courts, Family Courts, Vermont
Traffic and Municipal Ordinance Bureau, Environmental Court and
Probate Courts. Vermont's court structure is described in a
chart.
Filings in Vermont courts increased by nearly 5 percent during
Fiscal Year 1998 (FY1998). There were substantial increases in
the number of misdemeanor, civil suspension and traffic ticket
filings in District Court, traffic complaints and fish and wildlife
violations in the Vermont Traffic and Municipal Ordinance Bureau,
mental health and child support cases in Family Court and adoption,
guardianship and testamentary trust filings in Probate Court.
Small increases were reported in Superior Court appeals and in
Family Court post judgment and juvenile cases. Supreme Court
filings remained unchanged. All other dockets showed decreased
filings.
The summary table compares the case
filings and end-of-year pending caseload this year and last in
each court.
Highlights of the report include:
Supreme Court
Supreme Court filings remained unchanged during FY1998, with 582 new
cases added. Five hundred eighty seven cases were closed. The
Court's pending caseload was the lowest since 1981.
Superior Court
Filings in Vermont's Superior Courts decreased by 5.7 percent during
FY1998, with 16,015 cases added in FY1998, compared to 16,980 new
filings in FY1997. Small claims filings fell by nearly 10 percent
to the smallest number since FY1982. Civil complaints remained at
FY1997 levels, and appeals filings increased by 2.6%.
Because fewer total cases were filed, fewer were disposed. Cases
disposed decreased from 17,468 in FY1997 to 17,030 this year, but
most of this decrease is a 6.0% decrease in small claims case
dispositions. Disposition of civil complaints and appeals actually
increased by 2.3% and 9.9% respectively in FY1998.
The pending caseload decreased by 14.5% to the lowest number in
fifteen years, as all civil dockets showed significant reduction:
civil complaints, 10.2%; appeals, 16.0%; and small claims, 22.9%.
District Court
Overall filings in Vermont's District Courts increased by 2.8 percent,
with 21,476 cases added in FY1998 compared to 20,886 in FY1997.
The criminal docket grew by four percent in FY1998. There was a
small decrease in felony filings - 3,368 in FY1998 compared to 3,435
cases FY1997, but a substantial increase in misdemeanor filings, over
6 percent. There were 18,531 criminal cases closed, compared to 17,638
in FY1997, a five percent gain. Due to a sharp rise in misdemeanor
filings during the last quarter of the year, the pending caseload
increased by 4%, to 9,501.
There were increases in the Civil Suspension and Uniform Traffic
Ticket dockets while Traffic Appeal and Fish and Wildlife, Snowmobile
and Boating case filings decreased.
Vermont Traffic Bureau
The Vermont Traffic and Municipal Ordinance Bureau experienced a
hefty 8.5% increase in filings.
There were 77,719 traffic complaints filed at the Vermont Traffic
and Municipal Ordinance Bureau during FY1998, an 8.9 percent increase
over the 71,370 filed in FY1997. There were 77,097 cases closed,
leaving 10,445 cases pending at the end of the year.
Municipal ordinance violation filings fell by 10 percent, from 1,670
during FY1997 to 1,497 in FY1998. 1,481 cases were disposed and there
were 271 cases pending at the end of the fiscal year.
Game wardens filed 70 percent more Fish and Wildlife complaints at
the Bureau; 274 complaints were filed during FY1997 while 464 were
filed during FY1998. There were 467 cases closed, leaving 68 cases
pending at the end of the year.
Family Court
New filings in Vermont's Family Court increased by two percent, with
23,335 new filings in FY1998 compared to in 22,904 FY1997.
Most Family Court dockets showed increased filings: Child Support
Establishment and Enforcement was up 7.2%; Post Judgment actions not
involving child support was up 3.8%; the Juvenile caseload was up
3.2%; and there were 12.6% more Mental Health cases opened in FY1998.
Changes in the end-of-year pending caseload ranged from a forty-two
percent decrease (Mental Health) to a 10% increase (Child Support).
Divorce and Annulment filings remained at FY1997 levels as did the
number of cases pending at the end of the year.
There were fewer Parentage, Interstate Child Support Enforcement,
and Relief from Domestic Abuse filings; the reductions ranged from
3.1% (Relief from Abuse) to 59.4% (Interstate Child Support
Enforcement). As a result, the pending caseload was smaller in
these dockets at the end of FY1998.
Environmental Court
Filings in Environmental Court fell slightly, with 235 new filings
compared to 243 cases added in FY1997. 204 cases were disposed,
leaving a pending caseload of 140 at the end of the year.
Probate Court
New filings in Vermont's Probate Courts increased in FY1998.
Testamentary Trust, Guardianship and Adoption filings grew by 40.7%,
5.5% and 14.6% respectively, while the Decedent Estates docket
decreased by 2.7% during FY1998. There were 3,830 cases disposed and
1,178 other petitions processed during the year. The number of cases
pending at the end of the year decreased slightly from 14,479 cases in
FY1997 to 14,431 cases in FY1998.
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