Courts Need More Judgeships, Judge Tells Congress

With federal courts across the country contending with mounting caseloads, Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, urged Congress today to create new district and court of appeals judgeships to meet growing workload demands.

A hearing on “Justice Delayed: The Crisis of Undermanned Federal Courts” was held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. Tymkovich testified on behalf of the Judicial Conference (pdf), the federal Judiciary’s national policy-making body. He previously served as chair of the Conference’s Committee on Judicial Resources, which is responsible for evaluating judgeship needs.

“Substantial delays chip away at the public’s respect for the Judiciary and erode public confidence in the judicial process and the timely administration of justice,” Tymkovich wrote in his prepared testimony (pdf). “The problem is so severe that potential litigants may be avoiding federal court altogether, not having the resources or time to wait for their case to be heard or resolved. One cannot imagine the situation will improve on its own, without additional judges.”

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 2023, the Judicial Conference recommended to Congress adding two judgeships to the courts of appeals and 66 judgeships to the district courts. In addition, the Conference recommended converting seven temporary district court judgeships to permanent judgeships and extending two temporary district court judgeships for an additional five years.

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.

Weighted filings data for each district court are published in Federal Court Management Statistics.