Status of Article III Judgeships - Judicial Business 2016

On September 30, 2016, a total of 12 vacancies existed among the 179 judgeships authorized for the U.S. courts of appeals. Six of these vacancies had been unfilled for more than 18 months. One year earlier, the appeals courts had 9 vacancies, 6 of them for more than 18 months.

On September 30, 2016, a total of 77 vacancies existed among the 677 positions authorized in the U.S. district courts, 19 more than reported at the end of 2015. Thirty of the vacancies had existed for more than 18 months, 17 more than one year earlier. The majority of the vacancies arose when judges took senior status.

Thirty-five judicial emergencies were identified in the courts of appeals and district courts on September 30, 2016—four more than one year earlier. For the courts of appeals, which had 5 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 30 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, 85 senior circuit judges with staff participating in appeals decisions were serving the Judiciary at the end of the fiscal year, 1 more than in 2015. The U.S. district courts reported 399 senior judges with staff, 3 more than had been serving one year earlier.

For information on the status of judgeship positions since 2012, see Table 11.