The first chart shows the total number of judicial officers reported by state courts for the last 10 years, with an overall increase in judicial officers over this period. However, after 9 years of increases that averaged about 110 judicial officers per year, general jurisdiction courts lost 60 in 2010 and limited jurisdicition courts gained just 2, for a total net decrease of 58 for 2010.
Unlike caseloads, which increase at an average of about 1 percent per year, the number of judicial officers typically increases at half that rate. As a result, the average number of cases per judicial officer increases in most years. However, the recent decline in total caseloads has translated into a decrease of about 100 cases per judicial officer per year from its high of 3,515 in 2008 to about 3,415 in 2010.