3rd Division Is the Busiest of State Courts of Appeal

If case files were waves, the six members of Santa Ana’s 4th District Court of Appeal, 3rd Division, would be looking to the lifeguards for a little help.

Each of the six justices issues about 160 opinions a year, the highest per-justice ratio among the state’s 18 divisions. And the total number of appeals filed annually--in other words, work to be done--runs even higher.

Civil appeals outnumber criminal appeals 2 to 1, the highest ratio in the state, which reflects the litigious nature of Orange County’s dynamic business community.

Because civil cases tend to involve more complicated legal principles than criminal cases, that high volume of filings adds to the Santa Ana court’s backlog--among the worst in the state.

For example, the time that it takes for the court to issue a written decision, from the date the appeal was filed, is about 2 1/2 years, the longest in the state, according to recent figures from the Judicial Council of California. About 10% of the cases took 1,082 days--nearly three years, the third highest in the state.

Criminal appeals move a little faster, with a median of 476 days, but that is still the second highest in the state. And 10% of those cases take more than 662 days, the fourth highest.

Even if there were no new appeals filed this year, it would take the court more than 12 months to erase the backlog of pending appeals.

With the addition of a sixth justice in February, court officials hoped to slow the backlog’s growth. The court also has taken other steps, including reviving a successful settlement program, earmarking civil cases with simple issues that can be disposed of quickly and using video conferences for oral arguments in some criminal appeals.

With the size of the county, justices say the court needs at least one more justice, which requires action by the state Legislature.