Since its creation in 1978, the Arkansas Court of Appeals has worked with the Supreme Court to provide major relief for the tremendous increase in appeals which first challenged the Arkansas appellate court system during the 1970's. The number of appeals continued to grow at such a tremendous rate, however, that the Court of Appeals was no longer able to accommodate further increase. Legislation first adopted during the 1993 legislative session increased the Court of Appeals to twelve members from six members. Three judges were added in 1996 and an additional three judges were added in 1997. The twelve member court sits in four, three-member panels and, when necessary, conducts en banc sessions with six judges.

The provisions of Amendment 80 did not include changes which impacted the Court of Appeals. Two other issues during 2001, however, are important to note. A major renovation of the Justice Building, which houses the Court of Appeals, required a relocation of the entire court to temporary quarters during the year. Appointments were also made to the Arkansas Court of Appeals Apportionment Commission, which is required to study and then make recommendations to the 2003 General Assembly on new electoral districts for the Court of Appeals. The Court also welcomed judges Larry Vaught and Karen Baker who were each elected to their first term on the Court.

Court of Appeals   1,278 1,158   ESD 300 Civil 593 Criminal 385 ESD 280 Civil 538 Criminal 340   Calendar Year     2000 2001

The workload of the Court of Appeals is measured by the number of appeals and petitions considered by the Court during the fiscal year. Appeals filed during 2001 totaled 1,158 cases, a decrease from 1,278 in 2000. Appeal terminations for the year totaled 1,275 cases, a decrease from the 2000 total of 1,321. The increase in the number of judges on the Court has allowed the Court to decrease the size of the pending caseload. The number of cases pending has dropped from 809 in 2000 to 694 in 2001.

Arkansas Court of Appeals

Judge Terry Crabtree, Judge Sam Bird, Judge Larry Vaught, Judge Wendell Griffen, Judge Jo Hart, Judge Olly Neal, Chief Judge John Stroud, Judge Andree Roaf, Judge Karen Baker, Judge John Jennings, Judge John Robbins, and Judge John Pittman

Workload is also measured by the number of majority opinions written by each judge. In 2001, each member of the Court of Appeals averaged a total of 78 majority, concurring and dissenting opinions.

The backlog of cases has, for several years, had a negative effect on the amount of time required to process a case through the Court of Appeals. The effect is greater in civil cases since criminal cases, by statute, are given priority. The increased size of the Court has begun to alleviate what had been a growing backlog of cases. During 2001, it required an average of 742 days to process a criminal case from its filing in the lower court through the decision on appeal. The average time to process a civil case was 704 days. A very small percentage of this time, however, is spent at the Court of Appeals level. Much of it is spent at the trial level and in the preparation of the trial court record. From the time a case is submitted to the Court of Appeals, a decision is handed down, on average, in 26 days for criminal cases and 26 days for civil cases.