Dynamics of case flow management : a study of county and municipal courts in the State of Ohio

Abstract

This research investigation focuses on the efficiency of lower courts in Ohio. It makes two substantial contributions to the literature. First, it organizes a widely divergent literature on what court efficiency means and how to improve it. Second, it is one of few evidence-based studies on court efficiency. The data used in this model came from the Ohio Supreme Court 2011 Annual Statistical Report. It is hypothesized that (1) county courts are less efficient than municipal courts, (2) the efficiency of a court is proportional to the amount of resources allocated to it, and (3) the efficiency of a court is proportional to the size of the jurisdiction's population. The concept of efficiency is operationalized using filings per judge and tested using negative binomial models. Hypotheses about the difference between county and municipal courts and population size were confirmed. The hypothesis on resource allocation was opposite expectations. This study concludes that the consolidation of county and municipal courts could result in greater judicial efficiency.