Allegheny County courts warn rising caseloads and juvenile-bed shortfall strain system

President Judge Susan Avashovic de Lucente told Allegheny County Council on Oct. 13 that the Fifth Judicial District is grappling with growing caseloads, longer case-processing times and a shortage of juvenile detention capacity that officials say is pressing the system.

"The court has over 1,100 employees," Avashovic de Lucente said in an overview of the court system and its 2026 budget needs. She described a civil division that disposed of more than 19,000 matters last year and an arbitration docket that handled 10,000 cases, and she said criminal filings have risen: "This year, we had 9,503 cases filed, which is an increase of 700 cases from last year."

Why it matters: council members said the increased filings and slower dispositions are contributing to a larger pretrial jail population. The judge attributed part of the delay to a 30-day increase in median time to disposition since 2023 (from 253 to 285 days), which can extend the amount of time people spend incarcerated while awaiting case resolution.

The juvenile system is a central concern. Avashovic de Lucente and juvenile-administration staff said Schuman/Highlands — the county facility intended to provide additional juvenile detention beds — remains limited. "We only have 12 juvenile detention beds in all of Allegheny County," one official said, and officials reported 26 youth in detention on the date cited, with many held in out-of-county facilities because local capacity is full. The presentation said Schuman was originally planned to open additional pods funded in part by the state but that a revised plan increased costs and stalled the state approval process, pushing expected openings into 2027 or 2028.

County responses and short-term workarounds include scheduling more timely detainer hearings, adding a second motions judge to reduce dockets awaiting hearings, implementing a competency court and launching a mobile competency restoration unit to reduce the waiting list for state restoration facilities. The judge said pretrial services conducts investigations on each case and that 4,123 bail-modification motions were filed last year.

Council members asked about alternatives to detention and probation capacity. The judge highlighted electronic monitoring and diversion programs, noting electronic monitoring saved an estimated 302,903 jail days and that juvenile case management includes step-up/step-down programs such as CISP.

What happens next: the court asked for additional resources primarily for personnel and signaled willingness to work with the executive and council to expedite the Schuman/Highlands reopening plan and to pursue measures intended to shorten pretrial waits and reduce out-of-county placements.