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The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is a court-improvement organization based in Williamsburg, Virginia, whose stated mission is to “drive innovation & advancement in courts and justice systems.” For researchers its most useful product is the Court Statistics Project (CSP), which publishes comparable state court caseload data. This page explains what NCSC does, what the CSP provides, and how to use and cite its data responsibly. Facts below were read on ncsc.org on 2026-11-08.
What is the National Center for State Courts?
NCSC describes itself as having served courts for over 50 years. Its work spans court research and consulting, education and certification for court professionals, court data, and initiatives on topics NCSC lists as including AI, jury studies and community-focused programs. Its headquarters is at 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA 23185, and its President and CEO is Elizabeth T. Clement (NCSC, About us).
NCSC serves state courts, the level of the US judiciary that handles the large majority of cases. That distinguishes it from federal-court sources such as PACER, and from research funders such as the National Institute of Justice.
What does NCSC do?
| Function | What NCSC says it offers |
|---|---|
| Research and data | Court Statistics Project caseload data, data governance guidance and self-assessment tools |
| Education | Certifications, ICM Fellows, customized education, webinars and events |
| Court improvement | Work on innovation in courts, including AI, jury studies and community-focused initiatives |
Source: ncsc.org/about-us, read 2026-11-08.
What is the Court Statistics Project?
The Court Statistics Project is a collaborative initiative of NCSC and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA). NCSC describes it as the only annual comparable overview of state court caseload data, with information on more than 95% of all cases filed in the US, and as the main resource for court trends for over 50 years (NCSC, Court Statistics Project, read 2026-11-08). Those coverage and uniqueness statements are NCSC’s own; attribute them to NCSC when you repeat them.
NCSC’s data page lists these named resources (ncsc.org/resources-courts/data, read 2026-11-08):
- Interactive trial court and appellate court overview dashboards of caseload data sourced from state courts.
- A state court caseload explorer; NCSC’s headline there reports 70 million state court filings in 2024.
- The Guide to statistical reporting, covering reporting matrices, case type definitions and counting rules.
- The Guide to data governance and a data governance self-assessment tool.
- The Data Dives webinar series, with topics such as data quality and record linkage.
The project also publishes comparative information on state trial and appellate court structures and on how state judiciaries and courts are governed.
Using NCSC data in research
State court data are reported by the states, so the numbers are only as comparable as the counting rules behind them. The Guide to statistical reporting exists because case type definitions and counting rules matter: a filing, a case and a defendant are not counted identically everywhere. Before comparing states or years, read the reporting guide and the court-structure material so you know what each unit means.
- Match the unit of analysis. Decide whether you are comparing filings, cases or dispositions, and confirm that the NCSC series you use measures that unit.
- Respect court structure. States organize trial and appellate courts differently; use the comparative structure material before ranking states.
- Name the source and the release. Say which NCSC resource and which data year you used, and describe figures as reported by NCSC.
- Keep descriptive and causal claims apart. Aggregate caseload counts describe volume; they do not by themselves explain why volume changed.
For background on the discipline these data serve, see what is legal studies, what is criminal justice and the Law and Society Association.
How to cite NCSC data
NCSC’s data page gives no citation format or data-use terms, so cite the page itself in your style’s web-resource pattern: author (National Center for State Courts), year of the data or page, title of the resource, URL and access date. Example in the APA 7th edition pattern for a webpage:
National Center for State Courts. (n.d.). Court Statistics Project. Retrieved November 8, 2026, from https://www.ncsc.org/our-centers-projects/court-statistics-project
Replace n.d. with the publication year when the specific dashboard or report you use shows one.
FAQ
Where is the National Center for State Courts based?
Williamsburg, Virginia, at 300 Newport Avenue, per NCSC’s about page.
What is COSCA?
The Conference of State Court Administrators, NCSC’s partner in the Court Statistics Project.
Does NCSC cover federal courts?
No. The Court Statistics Project concerns state court caseloads; federal court records are a separate source, for example PACER.
Is the Court Statistics Project data free to use?
The dashboards and guides are published on NCSC’s public data page. Terms of use are not stated there, so credit NCSC and keep to ordinary scholarly attribution.
Sources
- National Center for State Courts, About us. https://www.ncsc.org/about-us (read 2026-11-08)
- National Center for State Courts, Court Statistics Project. https://www.ncsc.org/our-centers-projects/court-statistics-project (read 2026-11-08)
- National Center for State Courts, Data. https://www.ncsc.org/resources-courts/data (read 2026-11-08)
