The 2003 caseload data indicate an 8.2 percent drop in new cases filed compared with 2002 data, although during the past 10 years, caseloads increased 23.7 percent. Adoption cases comprised the highest rate increase, increasing 24 percent from 2002. The largest case decreases were noted within the Civil Plenary category, followed by murder and class A felony cases. Overall, Indiana courts disposed of 1,745,718 cases in 2003, 76 percent of which were disposed of by trial courts. The most frequent method of case disposition for all trial courts was Guilty Plea/Admission, which accounted for 24.7 percent of all case dispositions. Jury trials accounted for 0.10 percent of all case dispositions, while bench trials made up 6.0 percent of case dispositions. Judicial system expenditures increased 1.6 percent from 2002, with Indiana counties spending $175,448,854 on court operations during 2003. The State of Indiana spent $77,012,594 on its judicial system in 2003, bringing the net cost of the Indiana judicial system to $86,911,871 in 2003, or $14.29 per person, which represents a decrease of $0.58 per person from 2002. The report includes a 2003 State of the Judiciary address by Chief Justice Shepard and a 2003 report of the Indiana Supreme Court by the Executive Director of the Division of State Court Administration. These addresses are followed by a brief description of the structure of Indiana’s judicial system. This is volume I in a three volume series. volume II offers 2003 caseload information for every court in Indiana, while Volume III contains data on revenues and expenditures for Indiana’s courts. Figures, tables.