Indiana Supreme Court
Division of State Court Administration
30 S. Meridian Street, Ste. 500
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Lilia G. Judson, Esq.
Executive Director

David J. Remondini, Esq.
Chief Deputy Executive Director

Pho: 317-232-2542
Fax: 317-233-6586

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State Court Administration > Division Departments > Court Management & Statistics > Weighted Caseload Measures Weighted Caseload Measures

History

The Judicial Administration Committee of the Indiana Judicial Conference began work in 1993 on a weighted caseload measurement system to establish a uniform statewide method for comparing trial court caseloads. The committee employed a consultant in 1994, and over the next two years collected and analyzed data provided by trial court judges and historic case files. Judicial officers from around the state were asked to participate in the study, and more than 36,000 case related timed events were recorded. The judicial officers who participated in the study were representative of counties of all sizes, and included judges, magistrates, referees, and commissioners.

In 2002, the Judicial Administration Committee revisited the weights to provide further accuracy to the weighting. The Committee evaluated and included additional categories including Murder; Class A, B, and C felonies; Mortgage Foreclosure (MF); and Civil Collections (CC).

The Judicial Administration Committee began additional study of the following case types in 2007: Murder (MR); Class A, B, C and D felonies (FA, FB, FC, FD); Post-Conviction Relief (PC); Juvenile CHINS (JC), and Juvenile Termination of Parental Rights (JT), culminating in a final report issued in 2009. As part of the study, the Committee studied, for the first time, certified problem-solving courts, consisting of Drug Courts and Re-entry Courts certified by the Indiana Judicial Center.

The Data

Indiana’s weighted caseload measurements are based on new case filings. The weighted caseload study asked judicial officers to track the time they spent on case-related activities such as: prejudgment hearings, trial preparation, plea/ admissions, bench trials, settlements, jury trials, opinions, orders, sentencing/ disposition, post judgment hearings, and research. These actual times were then multiplied by an occurrence factor based on the number of times that particular activity typically occurs in that particular case category. For example, in the latest study, a prejudgment hearing in a Class B felony case lasted an average of 8.83 minutes, and occurred an average of 5.78 times per filed Class B felony case. Thus, the number of minutes attributable to prejudgment hearings in Class B felony cases came to 51 minutes. The same process was used for each type of activity, e.g. trial preparation, plea/admission, etc., and the total minutes per activity for each case type were added together to arrive at the average time per case for each case type examined.

Application of the data.

The use of any measurement system must include an understanding of the variables which impact the statistical results. Examples of variables which may affect such results are jury trial rates, bench trial rates, and specialization of a particular court. The number of support staff assigned to a court also impacts the court’s ability to handle cases. Because this method of analysis is based on averages, short time frames should never be viewed in isolation. Longer periods of time such as a quarter or a year provide a more realistic picture of the court’s operations. The following chart contains the current weighted factors by case category.

Case Category Abrv Case Type Minutes Year Established
Capital Murder LP/DP 2649 2002
Murder MR 1209 2009
Felony CF 155 1996
A Felony FA 359 2009
B Felony FB 218 2009
C Felony FC 211 2009
D Felony DF/FD 125 2009
Criminal Misdemeanor CM 40 1996
Post-Conviction Relief PC 345 2009
Miscellaneous Criminal MC 18 1996
Infractions IF 2 1996
Ordinance Violations OV/OE 2 1996
Juvenile CHINS JC 209 2009
Juvenile Delinquency JD 60 2002
Juvenile Status JS 58 2002
Juvenile Paternity JP 82 2002
Juvenile Miscellaneous JM 12 1996
Juvenile Term Par Rights JT 475 2009
Civil Plenary CP/PL 121 2002
Mortgage Foreclosure MF 23 2002
Civil Collections CC 26 2002
Civil Tort CT 118 1996
Small Claims SC 13 1996
Domestic Relations DR 185 2002
Reciprocal Support RS 31 1996
Mental Health MH 37 1996
Adoption AD 53 1996
Adoption Histories AH 53 1996
Estate ES/EU 85 1996
Guardianship GU 93 1996
Trusts TR 40 1996
Protective Orders PO 37 2002
Civil Miscellaneous MI 87 1996
Problem-solving Court Cases 172 2009