| Comparing New Caseloads by Case Type in the Texas Courts, Fiscal Year 2003 | |
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Click on the links below to toggle between charts and see various comparisons. |
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Municipal Courts
Justice of the Peace Courts County-level Courts District Courts Appeals Courts Court of Criminal Appeals Supreme Court of Texas |
Municipal Courts
Justice of the Peace Courts County-level Courts District Courts Appeals Courts Court of Criminal Appeals Supreme Court of Texas |
| Source:Office of Court Administration. (full source, footnote) | |
Full Source: Fiscal Year 2003 (September 2002 to August 2003) figures are from the
Office of Court Administration 2003 annual report available at
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/pubs/AR2003/toc.htm.
Full Footnote: The caseload of the Court of Criminal Appeals consists of a blend of mandatory and discretionary matters. Decisions made by the Courts of Appeals in criminal cases may be appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals by petition for discretionary review, which may be filed by the State, the defendant, or both. In addition, the Court may review a decision on its own motion. All cases that result in the death penalty are automatically directed to the Court of Criminal Appeals from the trial court level. A significant portion of the Court's workload is the mandatory review of applications for post conviction habeas corpus relief in felony cases without a death penalty as required by state law.
The Supreme Court's caseload is entirely discretionary. Much of the Court's time is spent determining which cases will be fully heard (decisions to grant review). The case activity of the Supreme Court can be broken down into three broad categories: (1) with petitions for review the Court must decide whether to grant review of a final judgment in a case before a Court of Appeals; (2) regular causes involve petitions or questions the Court has accepted for review and which are fully heard on the merits on the briefs alone, in oral argument, or both; (3) other writs and motions are the matters passed on by the Court in the course of processing petitions for review or regular causes.
Regular causes involve cases in which four or more Supreme Court justices have decided in conference that a petition for review, a petition for writ of mandamus or habeas corpus, or a parental notification appeal should be reviewed. Such cases include direct appeals the Court has agreed to review and questions of law certified to it by a federal appellate court that the Court has agreed to answer. Most regular causes are set for oral argument in open court and are reported in written opinions. However, a petition may be granted and an unsigned (per curiam) opinion issued without oral argument if six or more justices agree.
Full Footnote: The caseload of the Court of Criminal Appeals consists of a blend of mandatory and discretionary matters. Decisions made by the Courts of Appeals in criminal cases may be appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals by petition for discretionary review, which may be filed by the State, the defendant, or both. In addition, the Court may review a decision on its own motion. All cases that result in the death penalty are automatically directed to the Court of Criminal Appeals from the trial court level. A significant portion of the Court's workload is the mandatory review of applications for post conviction habeas corpus relief in felony cases without a death penalty as required by state law.
The Supreme Court's caseload is entirely discretionary. Much of the Court's time is spent determining which cases will be fully heard (decisions to grant review). The case activity of the Supreme Court can be broken down into three broad categories: (1) with petitions for review the Court must decide whether to grant review of a final judgment in a case before a Court of Appeals; (2) regular causes involve petitions or questions the Court has accepted for review and which are fully heard on the merits on the briefs alone, in oral argument, or both; (3) other writs and motions are the matters passed on by the Court in the course of processing petitions for review or regular causes.
Regular causes involve cases in which four or more Supreme Court justices have decided in conference that a petition for review, a petition for writ of mandamus or habeas corpus, or a parental notification appeal should be reviewed. Such cases include direct appeals the Court has agreed to review and questions of law certified to it by a federal appellate court that the Court has agreed to answer. Most regular causes are set for oral argument in open court and are reported in written opinions. However, a petition may be granted and an unsigned (per curiam) opinion issued without oral argument if six or more justices agree.