Welcome to the Annual Report of the Arizona Judicial Branch for Fiscal Year 2013.
Enclosed, you will find caseload and statistical data for the appellate, superior, municipal
and justice of the peace courts. This data illustrates how the people of Arizona are using
the court system. I hope this information will give you a good idea about how very hard
your Arizona court system is working. Thank you for your interest in the Arizona Judicial
Branch.
Sincerely,
Rebecca W. Berch
Chief Justice
Arizona Supreme Court

Judiciary Organizational Chart
Supreme Court
5 Justices, 6-year terms
Chief Justice, Vice Chief Justice
3 Associate Justices
Court of Appeals
22 Judges, 6-year terms
Division I, Phoenix
Chief Judge & 15 Associate Judges
Counties: Apache, Coconino, La Paz, Maricopa,
Mohave, Navajo, Yavapai, Yuma

Division II, Tucson
Chief Judge & 5 Associate Judges
Counties: Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee,
Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz

Superior Court
177 Judges, 4-year terms
Presiding Judge in each county
Apache
1
Greenlee
1
Pima
30
Cochise
5
La Paz
1
Pinal
10
Coconino
5
Maricopa
95
Santa Cruz
2
Gila
2
Mohave
7
Yavapai
7
Graham
1
Navajo
4
Yuma
6
In addition to the judicial positions listed above, there are approximately 98 full-time and
part-time judges pro tempore, commissioners and hearing officers in the Superior Court.
Justice of the Peace Courts
88 Judges, 88 Precincts, 4-year terms
Apache
Cochise
Coconino
Gila
Graham
Greenlee
La Paz
Maricopa

4
6
4
2
2
2
3
26

Mohave
Navajo
Pima
Pinal
Santa Cruz
Yavapai
Yuma

5
6
10
8
2
5
3

Municipal Courts
154 Full- and Part-time Judges, varying terms
Apache
Cochise
Coconino
Gila
Graham
Greenlee
La Paz
Maricopa
FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

Judges
3
5
5
7
3
1
2
75

Courts
3
5
4
6
3
1
2
23

Mohave
Navajo
Pima
Pinal
Santa Cruz
Yavapai
Yuma

Judges
5
4
17
9
2
12
5

Courts
4
4
5
9
2
9
4

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Fiscal Year 2013
Caseload and Financial Highlights
In FY 2013 as compared with FY 2012
 Statewide, there were 2,118,498 case filings in FY 2013 in the Arizona Courts (Appellate,
Superior, Justice and Municipal Courts) resulting in 148,573 less filings compared to FY
2012, a decrease of 6.6%. That equates to an average of 8,473 cases filed among the Arizona
courts every working day.
 Statewide, revenue trends in FY 2013 are following case filing trends. Case filings decreased
by 6.6%, while revenue decreased by 2.9%.
 Arizona courts have collected more than $4.1 billion in additional revenue over the $70
million benchmark established in FY 1988.
 Statewide, civil traffic case filings account for 56.9% of all case filings in Justice and
Municipal Courts. Civil traffic filings decreased by 92,322, or 7.8% from FY 2012 to FY
2013.
 There were 71,326 DUI charges filed in Justice and Municipal Courts. This represents a
decrease of 1,409 case filings from FY 2012, or a 1.9% decrease. (Case filings in Justice and
Municipal Courts are primarily counted by charge, not by defendant).
 Superior Court case filings decreased by 5.4% statewide. In Maricopa and Pima counties,
filings decreased by 4.4% and 3.2%, respectively, while rural counties reported a decrease of
9.2%. The statewide decrease in total case filings was driven by a 12.5% decrease in the civil
case category.
 Superior Court mental health filings increased by 7.6% from FY 2012 to FY 2013. During the
same period, terminations of mental health cases decreased by 13.0%.
 Felony filings in Superior Court decreased 6.9% from FY 2012 to FY 2013. Superior Court
criminal jury trials also decreased by 10.3% in FY 2013 when compared with FY 2012.
 Within Superior Court, the case type categories with the most significant numerical case
filing increase include; other domestic relations (13.0%), estate (6.4%), adoption (12.4%) and
juvenile dependency (7.3%).
 In FY 2013, juvenile dependency filings increased by 7.3% compared to FY 2012 and 69.1%
when compared to FY 2011. During the same period, juvenile delinquency filings decreased
by 14.6% and 24.9%, respectively.
 Justice Court case filings decreased by 3.7% in FY 2013. Case filings in the Maricopa and
rural county justice courts decreased by 5.0% and 4.7%, respectively. While Pima county
case filings increased 1.2%.
 Statewide, Justice Courts civil traffic case filings were down 1.8%, while felony case filings
increased 23.1%.
 Municipal Court case filings decreased by 8.5% statewide. In Maricopa and Pima counties,
Municipal Court case filings decreased by 7.2% and 12.3% respectively, while rural county
cases filings decreased 9.9%. The overall decrease was driven by a 10.5% decrease in civil
traffic filings.

FY 2013 Case Filings by Court Level
APPELLATE
COURT LEVEL

TRENDS

CASE FILINGS

SUPREME COURT

1,054

DIVISION ONE

2,809

DIVISION TWO

842
4,705

TOTAL

 Appellate Court case filings decreased by 155
(3.2%).
 General Jurisdiction Court case filings decreased
by 11,800 (5.5%).
 Limited Jurisdiction Court case filings decreased
by 136,618 (6.7%).
LIMITED JURISDICTION
CASE FILINGS

GENERAL JURISDICTION
COUNTY

CASE FILINGS

COUNTY

JUSTICE

MUNICIPAL

APACHE

913

APACHE

8,072

1,249

COCHISE

3,261

COCHISE

41,600

4,722

COCONINO

3,290

COCONINO

22,139

21,344

GILA

1,749

GILA

9,883

20,051

GRAHAM

1,219

GRAHAM

4,597

2,418

1,805

676

14,028

2,519

329,387

766,415

GREENLEE

328

GREENLEE

LA PAZ

593

LA PAZ

MARICOPA

128,843

MARICOPA

MOHAVE

6,412

MOHAVE

36,952

18,756

NAVAJO

2,757

NAVAJO

29,287

11,292

PIMA

28,208

PIMA

154,824

194,575

PINAL

8,956

PINAL

48,978

27,065

SANTA CRUZ

1,587

SANTA CRUZ

8,505

7,774

YAVAPAI

6,804

YAVAPAI

33,401

46,517

YUMA

5,118

YUMA

16,785

26,795

TAX COURT

1,344

TOTAL

760,243

1,152,168

TOTAL

201,382

 Cases filed include original filings and transfers in.
 General Jurisdiction cases are counted by defendant.
 Limited Jurisdiction cases are counted by charge when filed by citation and by defendant when filed by
long-form complaint.
FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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ANNUAL CASE ACTIVITY SUMMARIES, FY 2012 – FY 2013
ARIZONA SUPREME COURT
 Supreme Court FY 2013 case filings decreased 5.0% from cases filed in FY 2012.
 Cases terminated by the court in FY 2013 increased 6.0% over case terminations in FY
2012.
 The difference between filings and terminations resulted in a pending caseload decrease
of 20.7%. There were 421 pending cases on July 1, 2012, compared to 334 pending cases
on June 30, 2013.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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COURT OF APPEALS, DIVISION ONE
 Total filings during FY 2013 represented a 3.5% decrease from FY 2012.
 Case terminations decreased by 2.2% in FY 2013.
 Pending caseload decreased by 8.8%, from 2,248 on July 1, 2012 to 2,051 on June 30,
2013.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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COURT OF APPEALS, DIVISION TWO
 Total filings increased 0.1% from 841 in FY 2012 to 842 in FY 2013. Criminal filings,
the largest category, comprising 29.7% of the total filings decreased 3.8% from 260 in
FY 2012 to 250 in FY 2013.
 Case terminations increased by 60.4% in FY 2013.
 Pending caseload decreased by 4.9%, from 915 on July 1, 2012 to 870 on June 30, 2013.
Post-conviction relief transfer in cases kept the pending caseload from further decreasing.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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ARIZONA TAX COURT
The Arizona Tax Court serves as the statewide venue for all civil actions involving a tax, impost
or assessment.
 A total of 1,343 original cases were filed in the court during FY 2013, a decrease of
26.4% from the 1,825 cases filed in FY 2012.
 Of the 1,343 FY 2013 original cases filed, 1,154 were property tax actions, accounting
for 85.9% of the total original filings.
 A total of 1,890 cases were terminated, 852 or 45.1% by judgment. Cases terminated by
judgment decreased 9.7% from FY 2012.
 As of June 30, 2013, there were 1,195 cases pending in the tax court. Total cases pending
decreased 29.2% from FY 2012.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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SUPERIOR COURT
 In FY 2013, total case filings decreased by 5.4% from FY 2012.
 Total case terminations decreased by 3.9% during the same period.
 Civil case filings decreased 12.5% from 71,722 in FY 2012 to 62,770 in FY 2013. During
the same period, civil case terminations also decreased 14.3% from 76,008 to 65,148.
 Criminal case filings decreased 6.7% from 52,159 in FY 2012 to 48,654 in FY 2013.
Criminal case terminations decreased by 4.3% during the same period from 52,018 to 49,782.
 Domestic relations cases increased 2.6% from 48,594 in FY 2012 to 49,860 in FY 2013, and
domestic relations case terminations increased 5.3% from 47,733 to 50,259. Domestic
violence petition filings decreased 6.5% in Superior Court from 12,856 to 12,021 in FY
2013.
 There were 208,894 total cases pending on July 1, 2012, compared with 205,011 cases
pending on June 30, 2013, a decrease of 1.9%.
 Juveniles with direct filings to adult court decreased 0.8%, from 259 in FY 2012 to 257 in
FY 2013. Juvenile cases transferred to adult court decreased 22.2%, from 18 in FY 2012 to
14 in FY 2013. A total of 271 juvenile cases were either transferred or directly filed in adult
court in FY 2013 compared to 277 in FY 2012, a decrease of 2.2%

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS
 Total filings in Justice Courts decreased from 789,233 in FY 2012 to 760,243 in FY
2013, a decrease of 3.7%.
 During the same period, case terminations decreased 2.7% from 819,304 in FY 2012 to
797,321 in FY 2013.
 Civil and criminal traffic filings, which comprise almost two-thirds of all justice court
filings, decreased 2.1% from 460,062 in FY 2012 to 450,441 in FY 2013.
 Criminal (misdemeanor and felony) case filings decreased 1.3% from 110,861 in FY
2012 to 109,373 in FY 2013. Criminal case terminations decreased 2.9% from 119,398 in
FY 2012 to 115,915 in FY 2013.
 Domestic Violence petition filings decreased 3.0% in justice courts, from 9,478 to 9,197.
Petitions for Injunctions Against Harassment decreased 5.3% from 7,040 to 6,668.
 Total cases pending dropped by 2.2% from 627,200 on July 1, 2012 to 613,431 on June
30, 2013.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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MUNICIPAL COURTS
 Case filings in FY 2013 decreased 8.5% from FY 2012. Total case terminations
decreased 3.7% during the same period.
 Civil and criminal traffic filings, which comprise about three-fourths of all municipal
court cases, decreased 9.8%, from 938,748 in FY 2012 to 846,377 in FY 2013.
 Criminal misdemeanor case filings decreased 2.0% from 215,591 in FY 2012 to 211,174
in FY 2013. Criminal misdemeanor case terminations decreased 5.6% from 270,760 in
FY 2012 to 255,472 in FY 2013.
 Domestic Violence petitions decreased 0.5% from 12,989 in FY 2012 to 12,927 in FY
2013. Petitions for Injunctions Against Harassment decreased 1.9%, from 7,280 in FY
2012 to 7,144 in FY 2013.
 Total cases pending decreased 13.3%, from 823,040 on July 1, 2012 to 713,520 on June
30, 2013.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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ADULT PROBATION
 The number of individuals under the jurisdiction of Arizona adult probation departments
at the end of FY2013 decreased 2.2% from 80,273 on July 1, 2012 to 78,499 on June 30,
2013.
 Of the 78,499 under the jurisdiction of adult probation, 40,880 were on standard
probation (35,524 were under direct supervision in the state and 5,356 were under
indirect supervision as they were out going interstate compact or in long term residential
treatment), 2,366 on intensive probation (2,209 were direct supervision and 157 were on
indirect supervision), and 35,253 were on administrative supervision (unsupervised,
report only, deported, etc).

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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JUVENILE COURT / PROBATION
JUVENILE COURT REFERRALS
 There were 43,723 referrals to juvenile court in FY 2013, a 12.8% decrease compared to
50,150 in the previous year.
 40,193 referrals were terminated in FY 2013, an 11.6% decrease compared to the 45,455
referrals terminated in FY 2012.

JUVENILE COURT PETITIONS
 A total of 16,849 petitions were filed in FY 2013, a 14.6% decrease from the 19,727
petitions filed in FY 2012.
 A total of 16,624 petitions were terminated in FY 2013, a 12.5% decrease from the
19,000 terminated in FY 2012.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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JUVENILE COURT PROBATION/CORRECTIONS
 The number of juveniles on probation at the end of FY 2013 decreased 10.3% from 5,457
on July 1, 2012 to 4,897 on June 30, 2013.
 A total of 4,885 adjudicated juveniles were placed on probation in FY 2013, a 12.7%
decrease from the 5,595 youths placed on probation in FY 2012.
 5,394 juveniles were released from probation, a decrease of 14.7% from the 6,320
terminated last year.
 473 juveniles were committed to the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections during
FY 2013, a decrease of 18.9% from the 583 committed last year.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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ANNUAL REVENUE SUMMARY
 Total statewide court revenue decreased 2.9% from $397.0 million in FY 2012 to $385.6
million in FY 2013. While revenue decreased by 2.9%, case filings decreased by 6.6%
during the same period, reflecting the continuing efforts of the courts statewide to collect
court-ordered fines, fees, and surcharges.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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 This graph represents the trend in increased court revenue above the $70 million
benchmark established in FY 1988. Since that time, courts have collected approximately
$4.129 billion in additional revenue.
 Of the total court system revenue, the state received 44.1%, counties received 30.7% and
cities and towns 25.2%.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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 47.6% of total court revenue was generated by municipal courts, 28.4% by justice courts,
22.7% by Superior Court and 1.3% by appellate courts.
 Total restitution payments for victims collected by Courts decreased by 4.7% from $18.7
million in FY 2012 to $17.8 million in FY 2013.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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ANNUAL EXPENDITURE SUMMARY
 Total statewide court expenditures increased 0.5% from $715.5 million in FY 2012 to $719.4
million in FY 2013.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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 65.1% of the total funds spent by the court system were from the counties, 19.8% from the
state, 13.7% from cities and towns, and 1.5% from federal and private sources.
 68.8% of total court expenditures were in Superior Court (including probation), 13.7% in
municipal courts, 10.4% at the appellate level and 7.1% in the justice courts.

FY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

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