Evaluating Minnesota Courts' Business Case Processing Efficiency: Does Money Matter

This paper explores the relationship of court funding and the efficient processing of business cases in Minnesota's 10 judicial districts and the timely disposition of commercial disputes using two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The study uses multiple models to evaluate whether efficient processing of business cases during the study period of fiscal years 2008-2014 was related to district court expenditures. The results show that business case processing efficiency of the overall court system in Minnesota declined during the study period. This decline generally followed a reduction in the amount of district court expenditures per judge and also tracked with a reduction in the overall court caseload. The results also show that Minnesota district courts are not equally efficient with respect to business case processing. This is regardless of whether efficiency is assessed on the basis of the number of cases disposed of or the timeliness of the disposition of the cases. The differences in efficiency in business case processing are not explained by the amount of district court expenditures per judge.;Similar to business cases, there are differences in efficiency among district courts with respect to processing of all major civil and criminal cases. This variation in efficiency is positively related to the amount of funding per judge. In other words, the efficiency in processing of all cases and the number of cases per judge increases with funding.;One explanation for the different results between business case processing and processing of all civil and criminal cases could be that the expenditure per judge affects only non-business cases. Further, it is possible that the relationship between funding and business case processing efficiency is non-linear. Perhaps, the initial impact of funding cuts is borne by non-business cases.;This study indicates that, overall, Minnesota district court efficiency is highly correlated with the expenditures per judge. However, the results relating to the impact of funding on business cases specifically are not clear-cut. More research is needed to evaluate what is affecting overall productivity because, generally, money affects how efficiently a district court can process civil and criminal cases. Given the constraints Minnesota will face in the years ahead with limited tax revenue, it is important to dedicate resources now to study other factors that could be affecting efficiency. A better understanding would provide information to improve court efficiency and ensure that sufficient resources are available to process all cases in a timely manner, thus fostering economic growth.