Judiciary Seeks 71 Judgeships to Meet Growing Caseloads

The Judicial Conference of the United States today agreed to recommend to Congress the creation of new district and court of appeals judgeships (pdf) as the Judiciary faces a worsening shortage of Article III judges and caseloads continue to mount.

Approved by the federal Judiciary’s national policy-making body at its biannual meeting in Washington, the Judiciary asked Congress to create two judgeships in the courts of appeals and 69 judgeships in district courts, where the need is greatest.

District court filings have grown by 30 percent since 1990, when the last comprehensive judgeship bill was enacted. Since 1991, the overall number of authorized district court judgeships increased by only four percent. 

Burgeoning caseloads can lead to significant case delays. Delays result in increased costs for litigants and raise access to justice concerns, especially in civil cases that may take years to get to trial. Over the past 20 years, the number of civil cases pending more than three years rose 346 percent, from 18,280 on March 31, 2004, to 81,617 on March 31, 2024.

In developing judgeship recommendations, the Conference and its Committee on Judicial Resources use a formal survey process to study and evaluate Article III judgeship needs. Before a judgeship recommendation is transmitted to Congress, it undergoes several levels of careful consideration and review. The surveys are conducted every two years and the resulting recommendations are based on established criteria, including current workload factors and empirical standards.

In fiscal year 2024, weighted filings, which account for the different amounts of time district judges require to resolve various types of civil and criminal actions, were above 500 per judgeship in 20 of the 25 district courts where the Conference is recommending additional judgeships.  

In 12 of these courts, weighted filings exceeded 600 per judgeship and in five courts filings were greater than 700 per judgeship. The Conference generally requires district courts to have over 430 weighted filings per judgeship to recommend additional judgeships. Weighted filings data for each district court are published in Federal Court Management Statistics.

Congress in 2024 approved a bipartisan bill to address the critical need for new judgeships throughout the federal courts, the first such comprehensive bill in more than three decades. However, President Biden vetoed the bill on Dec. 23, 2024.

The Conference today also received two new reports required by statute, the Annual Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), which reports on the activities of the AO and the Judiciary during the previous year, and Judicial Business, the Judiciary’s comprehensive annual statistical workload report. 

The 26-member Judicial Conference (pdf) is the policy-making body for the federal court system. By statute, the Chief Justice of the United States serves as its presiding officer and its members are the chief judges of the 13 courts of appeals, a district judge from each of the 12 geographic circuits, and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade.

The Conference convenes twice a year to consider administrative and policy issues affecting the court system, and to make recommendations to Congress concerning legislation involving the Judicial Branch.