Status of Article III Judgeships — Judicial Business 2021

On September 30, 2021, a total of 6 vacancies existed among the 179 judgeships authorized for the U.S. courts of appeals. One year earlier, the appeals courts had no vacancies.

On September 30, 2021, a total of 72 vacancies existed among the 677 positions authorized in the U.S. district courts, 16 more than reported at the end of 2020. Thirty-four of the vacancies had existed for more than 18 months, 17 more than one year earlier. Most of the vacancies arose when judges took senior status.

Thirty-nine judicial emergencies were identified for Article III judgeships on September 30, 2021 — one more than one year earlier. For the courts of appeals, a judicial emergency is defined as any vacancy where adjusted filings (i.e., filings excluding reinstated cases and counting pro se appeals as one-third of a case) per panel exceed 700, or any vacancy in existence more than 18 months where adjusted filings are between 500 and 700 per panel. Two appellate courts had judicial emergencies at the end of the fiscal year. For the district courts, a judicial emergency is defined as a vacancy of any duration where weighted filings per authorized judgeship exceed 600, or any vacancy longer than 18 months in a district court with weighted filings between 430 and 600 per authorized judgeship, or any vacancy in a district court with more than 1 authorized judgeship and only 1 active judge. Thirteen district courts had judicial emergencies at the end of the fiscal year.

In addition to active judges, 100 senior circuit judges were serving the appellate courts at the end of the fiscal year. The U.S. district courts reported 394 senior judges on that date.

For information on the status of judgeship positions since 2017, see Table 10.