Judicial Business 2025

Separate sections of the report address the appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts; the probation and pretrial services system; and other components of the federal Judiciary. Caseload totals for the major programs of the federal Judiciary appear in the table of judicial caseload indicators.

In the regional courts of appeals, filings rose 5 percent to 41,824. Total filings in the U.S. district courts grew 6 percent to 382,692 as civil case filings increased 4 percent to 303,563 and criminal defendant filings climbed 13 percent to 79,129. Bankruptcy court filings went up 11 percent to 557,376 as 83 of the 90 bankruptcy courts received more petitions. The number of persons under post-conviction supervision on September 30, 2025, was 119,532, a reduction of 2 percent below the total one year earlier. Cases activated in the pretrial services system, excluding pretrial diversion cases, rose 12 percent to 81,228.

Caseload Highlights

U.S. Courts of Appeals

• Filings in the regional courts of appeals increased 5 percent to 41,824 in fiscal year 2025.
• Filings by pro se litigants, which amounted to 50 percent of new cases, grew 9 percent to 20,878.
• Civil appeals rose 7 percent to 22,812.
• Criminal appeals dropped 7 percent to 9,392.

U.S. District Courts

• Combined filings in the district courts for civil cases and criminal defendants went up 6 percent to 382,692.

Civil Filings

• Civil case filings increased 4 percent to 303,563.
• Federal question cases climbed 12 percent to 157,421.
• Cases involving diversity of citizenship dropped 7 percent to 96,548.
• Filings with the United States as defendant rose 9 percent to 46,426, and filings with the United States as plaintiff grew 3 percent to 3,166.

Criminal Filings

• Filings for criminal defendants (including those transferred from other districts) went up 13 percent to 79,129.
• Defendants prosecuted for immigration violations grew 27 percent to 32,393. The southwestern border districts, which received 82 percent of immigration crime defendants, had a combined increase in filings of 17 percent.
• Drug offense defendants decreased 6 percent to 15,651. Filings for defendants accused of crimes involving marijuana fell 7 percent, and filings for defendants charged with non-marijuana drug crimes dropped 6 percent.
• Filings for fraud defendants went up 5 percent to 5,553.

U.S. Bankruptcy Courts

• Bankruptcy petition filings rose 11 percent to 557,376.
• Nonbusiness (i.e., largely consumer) petitions climbed 11 percent to 533,337, and business petitions increased 6 percent to 24,039.
• Growth occurred in filings under chapter 7 (up 15 percent) and chapter 13 (up 4 percent), while a reduction occurred in filings under chapter 11 (down 1 percent).
• Filings went up in 83 of the 90 bankruptcy courts.

Federal Probation and Pretrial Services System

• The total of 119,532 persons under post-conviction supervision on September 30, 2025, was 2 percent lower than the total one year earlier.
• Persons serving terms of supervised release on that date after leaving correctional institutions fell 1 percent to 107,565 and accounted for 90 percent of all persons under supervision.