Court Statistics


Fiscal Year 2012

Caseload and Financial Highlights
In FY2012 as compared with FY2011

  • There were 2,260,389 case filings in FY 2012 in the Arizona Courts (Appellate, Superior, Justice and Municipal Courts) resulting in 116,870 less filings compaired to FY 2011, a decrease of 4.9%.  That’s an average of  9,005 cases filed among the courts every working day. 

  • Statewide, revenue trends in FY 2012 are following case filing trends. Case filings decreased by 4.9%, while revenue decreased by 2.7%.

  • Arizona courts have collected more than $3.8 billion in additional revenue over the $70 million benchmark established in FY 1988.

  • Statewide, civil traffic case filings account for 56.7% of all case filings in Justice and Municipal Courts. Civil traffic filings decreased by 28,203, or 2.3% from FY 2011 to FY 2012.

  • There were 72,715 DUI charges filed in Justice and Municipal Courts. This represents a decrease of 4,765 case filings from FY 2011, or a 6.1% decrease. (Case filings in Justice and Municipal Courts are primarily counted by charge, not by defendants).

  • Superior Court case filings decreased by 10.2% statewide. In Maricopa county and rural counties, filings decreased by 13.1% and 7.0%, respectively, while Pima County reported a decrease of 0.6%. The statewide decrease in total case filings was driven by a 26.7% decrease in the civil case category.

  • Superior Court mental health filings increased by 15.8% from FY 2011 to FY 2012. During the same period, terminations of Mental Health cases increased by 19.9%.

  • Felony filings in Superior Court increased 2.6% from FY 2011 to FY 2012. Superior Court criminal jury trials also increased by 3.4% in FY 2012 when compared with FY 2011.

  • Of the statewide general civil cases filed in Superior Court, tort – motor vehicle and medical malpractice case type categories both increased in filings from FY 2011 to FY 2012. Tort – motor vehicle filings increased 8.6% while medical malpractice filings were up 6.3%.

  • Justice Court case filings decreased by 4.7% in FY 2012. Case filings in the Maricopa county justice courts decreased by 7.4% while Pima county and rural county case filings decreased by 2.9% and 2.4%, respectively.

  • Statewide Justice Courts civil traffic case filings were down 2.9% while felony case filings increased 8.1%.

  • Municipal Court case filings decreased by 4.1% statewide. Maricopa and Pima county case filings decreased by 2.6% and 13.5% respectively, while rural county cases filings increased 1.2%. The overall decrease was driven by a 2.1% decrease in civil traffic filings.