NCJ Number
165732
Date Published
1996
Length
62 pages
Annotation
This 1996 annual report of the Mississippi Supreme Court provides information and statistics on the achievements and operations of the Mississippi court system as a whole, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and trial courts.
Abstract
Information on the court system as a whole addresses its organization, court districts, and funding and administration. Information and data on the Supreme Court cover the organization and operation of the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Board of Bar Admissions, and the Commission on Continuing Legal Education; the justices; court finances; and the caseload summary. The report on the Court of Appeals encompasses its organization and operation, the judges, and a caseload summary. Trial court statistics pertain to the filings of circuit courts, chancery courts, county courts, and family courts. Statistics for 1996 show that the new appellate structure that has been operational since January 1995 is reducing the case backlog. Together, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals have disposed of 1,453 cases in 1996. In the years preceding 1995, the number of cases pending in the Supreme Court steadily increased. Since 1995, however, the number of pending cases at each year's end has decreased. The total decrease in the number of pending cases in the past 2 years is 527 cases. Another significant development in 1996 was the introduction of the Supreme Court's World Wide Web page on the Internet. Since April, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals have provided free access to their opinions over the Internet.