Nine million.

That's how many cases lawyers and litigants filed in Texas state courts in 2019, according to the state judiciary's most recent annual statistical report. The civil docket comprised 1.6 million of those filings, according to the report, which covers the state's fiscal year, from Sept. 1, 2018, to Aug. 31, 2019.

Here are five surprising facts from the statistics.

1. More Civil Cases

The numbers of civil cases in district courts increased by 11% from 2018 to 2019. When examining a five-year period, civil case filings have increased by 28% in district courts.

County courts-at-law also saw a bigger civil docket: Their civil case filings in 2019 increased by 24% compared to 2018. When looking at five years, there was a 49% increase.

The increasing Texas population is straining the court system, said Judge Ray Wheless, presiding judge of the First Administrative Judicial Region, which includes Dallas County.

"So many people are moving to Texas," said Wheless, who's served in the past as a county court-at-law judge and a district judge. "When people move here, that results in more litigation."

2. Growing Backlog

The statistical report revealed that the civil case backlog was growing in both district courts, which had an 87% clearance rate for civil cases, and in county courts-at-law, which had an 84% civil case clearance rate.

Backlogs happen when the number of cases keeps growing but the number of judges stays the same, Wheless explained.

There's a finite amount of business days in the year, he noted.

"You only have so much court time available, and the more cases you have, eventually something has to give and the backlog starts to grow. The only way to deal with that is add new courts," he said. "Judges can try to streamline their processes and streamline their dockets. But it's like when population increases, you have to increase the services you need to handle that population; that includes roads, that includes schools, that includes courts."

So how much does it cost to run a Texas-sized judiciary?

Here's a look at the fiscal year 2020 appropriation for some of the judiciary's specific line items, compared to the same line-item budget for fiscal year 2019.

• District judges' salaries: 14% increase to $77.4 million.
• County judges' salary supplement: 2% increase to $28.3 million.
• Intermediate appellate courts: 3% increase to $43.3 million.
• Court of Criminal Appeals: 6% increase to $6.9 million.
• Texas Supreme Court: 6% increase to $6.8 million.

3. Eminent Domain Practice Is Booming

Even though eminent domain cases remain a small part of the civil docket, that practice area is skyrocketing. For example, from 2018 to 2019, there was a 42% increase in the number of eminent domain cases. When looking at a five-year period, there was a whopping 150% increase in the eminent domain docket.

Texas Lawyer reported last year that the Trump administration's U.S.-Mexico border wall project was expected to create significant eminent domain work in South Texas.

In the Texas Hill Country, landowners have been up in arms over a plan by Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline and Permian Highway Pipeline to build a new natural gas pipeline across Texas, requiring the use of eminent domain powers to take land from private landowners.

4. District Courts Added 223,000 Civil Cases

Texas district courts saw nearly 932,000 total new cases added in fiscal year 2019, and 24% of them were civil matters. Here's how those 223,000 civil cases in district courts break down:

• 24% are injury or damage cases.
• 24% are debt matters.
• 22% are tax cases.
• 8% are contract.
• 7% are real property.
• 15% are other civil case types.

5. County Courts-at-Law Added 119,000 Civil Cases

The statutory county courts in Texas saw 719,000 total cases added in fiscal year 2019, and 16% of them were civil cases. Here's a breakdown of those 119,000 civil cases by case type:

• 56% were debt matters.
• 15% were injury or damage cases.
• 9% were contract.
• 3% were real property.
• 1% were tax matters.
• 16% were other civil case types.

Read the full report: