Common Pleas Judicial Needs Assessment Project

The Common Pleas Judicial Needs Assessment is a statewide study that uses data to help to determine the ideal allocation of judicial resources needed to manage and resolve current Common Pleas Court caseloads.

The judicial needs assessment is an evidence-based study to calculate how many Common Pleas Court judges are needed to handle the workload in each judicial district. The calculation is based on a time study. Studies of this kind are also known as weighted caseload studies since they measure not only the number of cases handled by each court, but also the amount of a judge’s time needed to perform the various tasks related to a case. The study serves as a component of ongoing year-to-year measurement and analysis.

The Judicial Needs Assessment model is recalculated annually using annual case filings, judge complement, and judge vacancies.

A judicial needs assessment is not a simple metric that indicates whether a judicial district has the right amount of judges, too many or too few. It is really the beginning of the analysis and discussion for decision-makers to examine judicial resources necessary to meet the needs of traditional and specialized caseloads.

• In 2013, the AOPC contracted with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to conduct a statewide judicial needs assessment. In 2023, the AOPC contracted with NCSC to conduct an updated judicial needs assessment. Over the past 30 years, the NCSC has completed judicial workload assessments in more than 40 states and territories.
• For both the 2013 and the 2024 study, a Judicial Needs Assessment Committee (JNAC) was assembled for the purpose of helping define study parameters and assisting the NCSC. Members included judges from judicial districts large and small, urban and rural, and AOPC staff.

current as of April 2025