Frequently Asked Questions
What is a data dashboard?
- Data dashboards visually depict a data trends. These specific dashboards visually depict a court’s trends in incoming caseloads as well as its performance in efficiently moving cases forward. The dashboards include the key performance indicators of the courts’ overage rates and clearance rates. Users can select specific courts or view statistics for the state as a whole. Below are screen shots of the State of Ohio Interactive Data Dashboards.
Click on the images above to view a larger image.
I am not sure what dashboard I would like. Can you explain the differences between court types?
- Dashboards are available for all of Ohio trial courts except the Ohio Court of Claims. Select from the following courts:
- Common Pleas, General Division: Felonies and civil cases with amounts in controversy that exceed $15,000
- Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division: Divorce, dissolution, and other family-related matters
- Common Pleas, Juvenile Division: Delinquency, juvenile traffic, and family-related matters involving unmarried persons
- Common Pleas, Probate Division: Estates, guardianships, marriage applications, and other probate matters
- Municipal and County Courts: Felonies (preliminary matters only), Misdemeanors, O.V.I., other traffic, civil cases with amounts in controversy of $15,000 or less, and small claims cases.
How do I use the data dashboards?
- The dashboards are designed to provide the user with “self-service analytics.” There are filter controls at the top of the screen allowing you to control the content of the various visualizations. You can choose to view the data for all courts statewide, or select a specific county or court using the dropdown filter controls. In addition, the time frame for the data can be selected as well as any narrowing of the case type. The dashboards for each court type include a Caseloads and Performance Measures page as well as a Dispositions page. If you would like to download data to analyze on your own, click on a visualization and then select “Download” at the bottom right of the screen.
Click on the images above to view a larger image.
What do these terms and measures on the dashboard mean (e.g. "Total Incoming Cases" or "Overage Rate")?
- An explanation of terms and measures used on the dashboard are provided in the Data Dictionary.
How is the dashboard data collected?
Who can see the statistical information?
- All of the data supplied to the Supreme Court pursuant to Sup.R. 37 is publicly-available, including the dashboards.
In the dashboard I see a title (e.g. "Clearance Rate by Month"), but I do not see a corresponding image. Why?
- There are two main reasons that this may happen:
- A visualization may not appear because of adjustments to the size of the dashboard to fit the screen on which it is being viewed. The dashboards are programmed to adjust to the screen, though that may not always work. If you run into this problem, there are a couple potential solutions:
- Check your browser. The dashboards generally look best in Google Chrome.
- Select the “Full Screen” icon in the bottom right corner to expand the display size, as shown in the image below.
- To return to a browser window, simply hit “ESC.”
Click on the image above to view a larger image.
- A second reason visualizations may be blank is that you have chosen a Judge/Court/Year combination that is not valid. For example, if Judge Smith was a judge in Fairfield County Municipal Court from 1998 through 2004, but you select the filters to show Judge Smith's data in Franklin County Municipal Court in 2008, the visualizations will be blank. If there are parentheses around the filter selections, this indicates that those selections are not valid, as in the image below. The dashboards work best if you operate the filters left to right (in other words, choose a court, then judge, then year).
Click on the image above to view a larger image.
- A visualization may not appear because of adjustments to the size of the dashboard to fit the screen on which it is being viewed. The dashboards are programmed to adjust to the screen, though that may not always work. If you run into this problem, there are a couple potential solutions:
If a case is marked as "overage" or "pending past the time guidelines" what does that mean?
This number reflects the number of cases that are pending at the end of each reporting period that have been pending for longer than the applicable time guideline, as noted in the reporting forms pursuant to Sup.R. 39.
The time guidelines by case type and court type are as follows:
Common Pleas, General Division
Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division
Common Pleas, Juvenile Division
Municipal and County Courts
Click on the images above to view a larger image.
Why is there a zero for some case types in the Individual Judge (IJ Form) dashboard?
- Some courts, usually single judge courts, do not move cases from the Administrative Judge (AJ) form to the Individual Judge (IJ) form. Please check the Courtwide Municipal and County Court dashboard to see if there are cases for the case type that you are searching for. Please visit the Data Dictionary for an explanation of the difference between the AJ and IJ form.
Can I download this data to analyze on my own? Can I download the dashboard or a specific visualization?
- Click anywhere within a particular visualization (e.g., the map, a bar chart, etc.) and then on the Download button on the bottom right of the screen, as shown below.
Click on the image above to view a larger image.
Several download options will appear, as shown in the image below. The “Data” and “Crosstab” options will permit you download and save the data. The “Image” and “Download PDF” options create static files that can be used in a variety of ways.
Click on the image above to view a larger image.
There is an error in my court's data. What do I do?
- When a court determines an error in their data exists, the Case Management Section of the Supreme Court should be notified by email at casemgmt@sc.ohio.gov or by phone at 614.387.9413. The Program Assistant will help correct any reporting errors.
I would like to get assistance with my court's data reporting or our case management processes. How do I do this?
- The Case Management Section of the Supreme Court offers a variety of services to assist Ohio’s courts. Click here to learn more. You may reach them by phone at 614.387.9413 or email at casemgmt@sc.ohio.gov.
I have additional questions about this data that is not answered here. Can someone at the Supreme Court help me?
- Please direct your questions to the Case Management Section of the Supreme Court. You may reach them by phone at 614.387.9413 or email at casemgmt@sc.ohio.gov.