Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Main Menu

Judicial Caseload Indicators — Judicial Business 2018

Judicial Caseload Indicators
12-Month Periods Ending September 30, 2009, 2014, 2017, and 2018
Judicial Caseload 2009 2014 2017 2018 Percent Change Since 2009 Percent Change Since 2014 Percent Change Since 2017
U.S. Courts of Appeals1              
Cases Filed 57,7382 54,9872 50,506 49,276 -14.7 -10.4 -2.4
Cases Terminated 60,508 55,216 54,347 50,428 -16.7 -8.7 -7.2
Cases Pending 49,8742 41,3092 39,3842 38,232 -23.3 -7.4 -2.9
U.S. District Courts              
Civil              
Cases Filed 276,397 295,310 267,769 282,936 2.4 -4.2 5.7
Cases Terminated 263,703 258,477 289,901 276,311 4.8 6.9 -4.7
Cases Pending 311,353 337,404 366,1952 372,820 19.7 10.5 1.8
Criminal (Includes Transfers)              
Defendants Filed 97,982 81,226 77,018 87,149 -11.1 7.3 13.2
Defendant Terminations 95,598 88,676 75,337 79,866 -16.5 -9.9 6.0
Defendants Pending 107,487 101,716 100,505 107,393 -0.1 5.6 6.9
U.S. Bankruptcy Courts              
Cases Filed 1,402,816 963,739 790,830 773,375 -44.9 -19.8 -2.2
Cases Terminated 1,197,649 1,099,666 856,750 816,006 -31.9 -25.8 -4.8
Cases Pending 1,559,129 1,401,593 1,070,1182 1,027,477 -34.1 -26.7 -4.0
Post-Conviction Supervision              
Persons Under Supervision 124,194 132,858 134,731 129,706 4.4 -2.4 -3.7
Pretrial Services              
Total Cases Activated 105,326 100,068 88,750 99,931 -5.1 -0.1 12.6
Pretrial Services Cases Activated 104,248 99,355 88,255 99,494 -4.6 0.1 12.7
Pretrial Diversion Cases Activated 1,078 713 495 437 -59.5 -38.7 -11.7
Total Released on Supervision 29,624 25,209 23,186 23,649 -20.2 -6.2 2.0
Pretrial Supervision 28,427 24,185 22,469 23,000 -19.1 -4.9 2.4
Diversion Supervision 1,197 1,024 717 649 -45.8 -36.6 -9.5
1Excludes the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
2Revised.
Judicial Business 2018
  1. Judicial Business 2018
  2. Judicial Caseload Indicators
  3. Judicial Business 2018 Tables
  4. U.S. Courts of Appeals
  5. U.S. District Courts
  6. U.S. Magistrate Judges
  7. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
  8. U.S. Bankruptcy Courts
  9. Criminal Justice Act
  10. Post-Conviction Supervision
  11. Pretrial Services
  12. Complaints Against Judges
  13. Status of Article III Judgeships
  14. Status of Bankruptcy Judgeships
  15. Status of Magistrate Judge Positions and Appointments
  16. U.S. Court of International Trade
  17. U.S. Court of Federal Claims