NCJ Number
183550
Date Published
2000
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This report describes the structure, activities, and caseloads of the Arkansas judicial system during the 1998-99 fiscal year.
Abstract
Arkansas has a non-unified court system that consists of three tiers, each of which is separate and distinct in its jurisdiction, processes, and funding. The tiers include the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals; the circuit, chancery, and probate courts; and courts of limited jurisdiction. The Supreme Court received 370 appeals and a total caseload of 848 appeals, petitions, and motions. The time from the filing of an action in the trial court to a final decision in the Supreme Court was 796 for criminal cases and 771 days for civil cases. Appeals filed to the Court of Appeals totaled 1,300 cases. The trial courts experienced 179,378 case filings for a second year of slight decline after more than 10 years of steady increase. Changes and improvements in the Arkansas judicial system related to a Judicial Article, a retired judges amendment, election of judges for the Court of Appeals, foster care funding, alternative dispute settlement, and other issues. Figures, map, and photographs