400 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

District Court Reporting System

Frequently Ask Questions

Background

In July, 2006, Chief Justice Calogero disseminated a memo regarding the new annual reporting requirements.
The annual reporting data is important for several reasons. The information will be used to help in the process of establishing new judgeships where needed. In addition, the caseload data will alsobe used when making policy decisions, assessing recidivism, and establishing the Courts’ workload. We all, as public servants, have a duty to report to the public on these matters.

Civil Case Type

Definition

The civil case type is a broad category for trial court cases in which a plaintiff requests the enforcement or protection of a right or the redress or prevention of a wrong that is not a crime.

The civil case type may be further divided into several sub-case types, including torts, contracts, real property,small claims, estate or probate, mental health, civil appeals, miscellaneous, and other case types not covered by the major case categories defined below.

Note: the domestic case type is not included in the civil case type definition but is defined below as a separate case type.

  1. Units of Count
    1. Civil Cases
      1. Each clerk of court is requested to provide to the Supreme Court the number of new complaints or petitions that are filed within a calendar year. Each new civil filing (petition or complaint) in a calendar year should be counted as one civil case.
    2. Self-Represented Litigants in Civil Cases
      1. “Initial pleading” shall mean a litigant’s first written appearance or action in a civil case. The “initial pleading” may be a petition, answer, exception, or any form or document accepted by the clerk of court in a civil case.
      2. A “self-represented litigant” shall mean a party to a lawsuit who represents himself or herself and acts in his or her own behalf. A “self-represented litigant” shall not mean an attorney who represents himself.
    3. Civil Jury Trials
      1. Each clerk of court is requested to provide to the Supreme Court the number of civil jury trials in which at least one witness has been sworn.
  2. Issues Relating to Counting
    1. When counting civil cases, please observe the following protocols:
      1. Clerk’s Suits - Do not include clerks’ suits in the count of civil cases.
      2. Domestic Cases - Do not include domestic cases in the count of civil cases. See Domestic Cases below.

Domestic Case Type

Definition

The domestic case type is a broad category for trial court cases that includes cases involving actions between family members (or others considered to be involved in a domestic relationship), such as marriage dissolution/divorce, paternity, custody, visitation, support, civil protection/restraining orders originating in a court other than one having juvenile jurisdiction, and other domestic cases.

  1. Units of Count
    1. DomesticCases
      • Each clerk of court is requested to provide tothe Supreme Court the number of new domestic complaints or petitions that arefiled within a calendar year. Each new domestic filing (petition or complaint) in a calendar year should be counted asone domestic case.
    2. Self-Represented Litigants in Domestic Cases
      1. “Initial pleading” shall mean a litigant’s first written appearance or action in a domestic case. The “initial pleading” may be a petition,answer, exception, or any form or document accepted by the clerk of court in a domestic case.
      2. A “self-represented litigant” shall mean a partyto a lawsuit who represents himself or herself and acts in his or her ownbehalf. A “self-represented litigant” shall not mean an attorney who represents himself.
  2. Issues Relating to Counting
    1. When counting domestic cases, please observe the following protocols:
      1. Child Support
        • If a child support case begins as a domestic case and is then transferred to another section of a general jurisdiction court for enforcement, count each filing as a separate domestic case.
        • If a child support case begins as a domestic case and is then transferred to a court of specialized juvenile jurisdiction for enforcement, count the initial filing as a domestic case, the other as a juvenile case.
        • If a child support case begins and remains in a court having juvenile jurisdiction, count the filing as one juvenile child support case.
      2. Domestic Abuse
        • Do not count domestic abuse cases as either a civil case, criminal, or domestic case.
        • Domestic abuse cases will be estimated from filings made to the Louisiana Protective Order Registry.

Criminal Case Type

Definition

The criminal case type is a broad category for trial court cases that begin with a bill of information or indictment and that include cases involving felonies and misdemeanors.

  1. Units of Count
    1. Domestic Cases
      1. Each clerk of court is requested to provideto the Supreme Court beginning in calendar year 2006 and every calendar year thereafter, the following data:
        1. Charge Counts
          • The total number of criminal charges independent of defendants or filings grouped by the following charge classifications – felonies, misdemeanors, non-felony DWIs.
        2. Criminal Defendants
          • The total number of criminal defendants and the total number of defendants grouped by charge category – felonies, misdemeanors, and non-felony DWIs.
        3. Criminal Cases or Filings
          • The total number of criminal docket or jacket numbers and the number grouped by charge category – felonies, misdemeanors, and non-felony DWIs.
      2. 1st Degree Murder Jury Trials
        • The number of 1st degree murder jury trials in which at least one witness in each trial has been sworn.
      3. 2nd Degree Murder Jury Trials
        • The number of 2nd degree murder trials in which at least onewitness in each trial has been sworn.
      4. Other Criminal Jury Trials
        • The number of other jury trials in which at least one witness in each trial has been sworn.
  2. Issues Relating to Counting
    1. When counting domestic cases, please observe the following protocols:
      1. Traffic Cases
        • Do not count traffic cases as criminal cases. Traffic cases are defined and should be counted separately as indicated below.
      2. DWI Cases
        • Count a DWI felony case as a felony case. Count a non-felony DWI case as a separate type of misdemeanor case.
      3. Drug Court Cases
        • Do not count cases referred to the drug court as an additional filing. Drug Court cases may be accounted for using data from the drug court program.
      4. Motion/Pre-Trial Hearings
        • Do not count actions involving motion hearings,bond hearings, and pre-trial hearings as separate cases within this case type.
      5. Jury Trials
        • Only count jury trials actually held (i.e., when the first witness is sworn ). Do not double count 1st degree and 2nd degree murder jury trials in the count of all other jury trials.

Traffic Case Type

Definition

The traffic case type is a broad category for trial court cases that begin with a citation and that include cases involving adult and juvenile traffic cases, exclusive of all DWI cases and juvenile delinquency cases .

  1. Units of Count
    • Each clerk of court is requested to provide tothe Supreme Court the number of citations filed within a calendar year for eachtype of traffic case (adult and juvenile traffic), beginning in calendar year2006 and every calendar year thereafter.
  2. Issues Relating to Counting
    • When counting traffic cases, please observe the following requirements:
      1. DWI Cases
        • Do not count DWI cases as part of traffic cases(see criminal cases above).

Juvenile Case Type

Definition

The juvenile case type is a broad category for trial court cases that begin either with a pre- petitionfiling (affidavit of verified complaint, a bench warrant, a temporary restraining order or protective order request, instanter request , etc.) or a petition.

That include cases involving the subject matter jurisdiction of the Louisiana Children’s Code (e.g. Child In Needof Care (CINC) cases, Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) cases, Domestic Abuse(DomAb) cases in courts having juvenile jurisdiction, child support (CS) cases, adoption (Adop.) cases, Formal Families in Need of Services (FFINS) cases, Juvenile Delinquency Cases (JD), Juvenile Contempt of Court (JCC) cases, and Other (OTH) cases classified as juvenile cases by the Louisiana Children’s Code.

  1. Units of Count
    1. New Juvenile Cases Each clerk of court is requested to provide to the Supreme Court, beginning in 2006 and every calendar year thereafter:
      • the number of petitions filed within a calendar year for each sub-type of juvenile case (CINC, TPR, CS, Adop., FFINS,/JD, and OTH);
      • the number of children listed in each type of petition by sub-type of juvenile case (CINC,TPR, CS, Adop., FFINS,/JD, and OTH);
      • the number of charges listed in each type of FFINS and juvenile delinquency petition.
  2. Issues Relating to Counting
    1. When counting juvenile cases, please observe the following protocols:
      1. Consolidated Cases
        • Count a consolidated juvenile case one time interms of the following hierarchy: CINC, Delinquency, Formal FINS
          • Example 1: If a CINC case is consolidated with a Delinquency case and/or a Formal FINS case, count the case as one CINCcase.
          • Example 2: If a Deliquency case is consolidated with a Formal FINS case, count the case as one Deliquency case.
      2. Child Support
        • Example 1: If a child support case begins as a domestic case and is then transferred to a court of specialized juvenile jurisdiction for enforcement, count one case as a domestic case, the other as a juvenile case.
        • Example 2: If a child support case begins in a court having juvenile jurisdiction, count the case as one juvenile child support case.
      3. Domestic Abuse
        • Do not count cases referred to the drug court as an additional filing. Drug Court cases will be accounted for using data from the drug court program.
      4. Drug Court Cases
        • Do not count cases referred to the drug court as an additional filing. Drug Court cases will be accounted for using data from the drug court program.
      5. Motion/Pre-Trial Hearings
        • Do not count motion hearings, bond hearings, and pre-trial hearings as separate cases.