California Courts at a Glance ¹

• Population served: Over 34 million--12.5 percent of the United States population
• Total court system filings: 8,556,597
• Californians who represent themselves in court: Estimated 4.3 million
• Number of authorized judgeships: 1,610
• Number of court employees: 21,633
• Court locations: 461
• Superior court buildings of historical significance: 43
• Court levels: Two-trial and appellate
• Trial courts: 58-one in each county
• Court of Appeal districts: 6 in 9 locations
• Highest court: California Supreme Court
• Total judicial branch budget (2001-2002): $2.5 billion
• Judicial branch budget as percentage of total State Budget: 2.7

Technology

• Superior courts allowing fax filing: All
• Courts allowing some e-filing: Six
• Number of Superior courts with local Web sites: All
• Number of outmoded computers to be replaced in trial courts (2001-02): 6,700

Jury service

• Jury pay: $15/day starting with second day of service and 15 cents per mile, one way
• Estimated number of Californians summoned to jury service each year: 8.5 million
• Percent of Californians summoned to jury duty annually who serve: 28

Court interpreters

• Languages spoken in California: 224
• Languages certified for court interpreters: 13 (Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese)
• Percent of interpreter services provided in Spanish: 81
• Pay rate for court interpreters: $265/day

Court education

• Number of annual education programs AOC offers: 100
• Number of judges/court staff annually attending AOC education programs: Estimated 5,000

Family and juvenile

• Average number of divorces filed annually in California: 160,000; Estimated number of children affected: 100,000
• Average annual number of child custody mediation cases: 84,000
• Percent child custody cases without attorneys: Estimated 63
• Percent of court-based mediation cases involving domestic violence: 65
• Juvenile dependents of the court in foster care: 102,484
• Counties offering children's advocate (CASA) programs: 40
• Number of courthouses with children's waiting rooms: 67

California Supreme Court

• Justices: 1 Chief Justice, 6 Associate Justices
• Filings: 9,071
• Dispositions by written opinion: 124
• Number of indigents on death row without attorneys: 153

Courts of Appeal

• Justices: 105
• Filings: 25,038
• Dispositions by written opinion: 13,890
• Indigents served annually by court-appointed counsel program: 2,500

Superior Courts

• 1,498 judges, 431 commissioners and referees
• Filings: 8,522,114
• Dispositions: 8,136,851
• Number of counties with local community-focused strategic plans: All
• Courts offering alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs: All
• Number of courts with pilot programs to manage complex litigation: 6
• Number of courts with pilot programs to assess early mediation in civil cases: 5

¹ Caseload data based on fiscal year 1999-2000