Status of Article III Judgeships - Judicial Business 2012

On September 30, 2012, 66 vacancies existed among the 677 positions authorized in the district courts, 1 fewer than the 67 vacancies reported at the end of 2011. Seventeen of the vacancies on September 30, 2012, had existed for more than 18 months, down from 21 vacancies one year earlier.

A total of 34 judicial emergencies were identified in the U.S. courts of appeals and U.S. district courts on September 30, 2012—4 more than one year earlier. For the courts of appeals, which had 6 judicial emergencies, a judicial emergency is defined as any vacancy where adjusted filings (i.e., filings excluding reinstated cases and weighting pro se appeals as one-third of a case) per panel are in excess of 700, or any vacancy in existence more than 18 months where adjusted filings are between 500 to 700 per panel. For the district courts, which had 28 judicial emergencies, a judicial emergency is defined as a vacancy of any duration where weighted filings per judgeship are in excess of 600 or any vacancy longer than 18 months in a district court with weighted filings between 430 and 600 per judgeship, or any vacancy in a district court with more than one authorized judgeship and only one active judge.

In addition to active judges, 86 senior circuit judges with staff were serving the Judiciary by participating in appeals decisions at the end of the fiscal year, 2 more than in 2011, but 5 fewer than in 2008. The U.S. district courts reported 354 senior judges with staff, 13 more than had been serving one year earlier and 30 more than in 2008.

For information on the status of judgeship positions since 2008, see Table 11.