West Virginia Civil Case Filings
According to the National Center for State Courts, West Virginia ranked 39th among all states and Washington D. C. for the number of civil court cases filed based on state population. West Virginia had 4,302 suits filed per 100,000 residents in 2010, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available.
- In sharp contrast to West Virginia, Maryland ranked 1st in the number of civil lawsuits filed based on population, with a total of 17,724 suits filed per capita.
- Virginia ranked 3rd (11,306)
- Ohio ranked 16th (6,818)
- Pennsylvania ranked 38th (4,326)
Court Statistics Project, National Center for State Courts, 2012
A study by Richard Brisbin Jr. and John C. Kilwein on West Virginia’s court system found that “since the 1980s West Virignia courts—the trial court of general jurisdiction—have not experienced a massive upsurge in non-family law civil litigation.” (The Future of the West Virginia Judiciary: Problems and Policy Options, 2007)
2010 Civil Case Filings Per Capita
Rank
State/District
Per Capita
1
Maryland
17724
2
New Jersey
11625
3
Virginia
11306
4
D. C.
10184
5
Georgia
10070
6
New York
8843
7
Wyoming
7822
8
Florida
7810
9
South Carolina
7662
10
Indiana
7524
11
Delaware
7504
12
Colorado
7503
13
Michigan
7447
14
South Dakota
7360
15
Nebraska
7259
16
Ohio
6818
17
Kansas
6764
18
Montana
6722
19
Connecticut
6313
20
Massachusetts
6187
21
Nevada
6145
22
Kentucky
6131
23
Louisiana
5909
24
Arizona
5813
25
Rhode Island
5484
26
Idaho
5317
27
Iowa
5316
28
Missouri
5297
29
North Dakota
5283
30
Oklahoma
5251
31
Utah
5238
32
Illinois
5232
33
Wisconsin
5151
34
Oregon
5039
35
New Mexico
4900
36
North Carolina
4798
37
Alabama
4501
38
Pennsylvania
4326
39
West Virginia
4302
40
New Hampshire
4080
41
Arkansas
4058
42
Minnesota
3990
43
Washington
3671
44
Vermont
3635
45
Alaska
3611
46
Maine
3558
47
Texas
3353
48
California
3308
49
Hawaii
3194
50
Mississippi
2812
51
Tennessee
1112
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