H.R. 1702 — JUDGES Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings concerning the need for new district court judgeships, including that (1) Article III of the Constitution authorizes Congress to establish such judgeships; (2) no new permanent judgeships have been created since 2003, or comprehensive legislation enacted since 1990; (3) this is the longest such period since district courts were established in 1789; (4) filings increased by 30% by the end of FY2022 since the last comprehensive legislation; (5) as of March 31, 2023, there were 686,797 pending cases with an average of 491 weighted filings per judgeship over 12 months; and (6) the Judicial Conference requested 66 new judgeships in its 2023 report.

This section establishes additional permanent district judgeships for specified U.S. District Courts by amending the judgeship table in 28 U.S.C. § 133(a), authorizing the President to appoint, with Senate advice and consent, one judge each (unless otherwise noted) as follows. (1) Effective upon enactment, adding judges to: central district of California (to 28 from 27), eastern district of California (to 7 from 6), northern district of California (to 15 from 14), Delaware (to 5 from 4), middle district of Florida (to 16 from 15), southern district of Indiana (to 6 from 5), northern district of Iowa (to 3 from 2), New Jersey (to 18 from 17), southern district of New York (to 29 from 28), eastern district of Texas (to 8 from 7), and southern district of Texas (to 20 from 19). (2) Effective January 21, 2027, adding judges to: Arizona (to 13 from 12), two to central district of California (to 30 from 28), eastern district of California (to 8 from 7), northern district of California (to 16 from 15), middle district of Florida (to 17 from 16), southern district of Florida (to 18 from 17), northern district of Georgia (to 12 from 11? wait, text inserts N12 M4 S3, assuming prior N11), Idaho (to 3 from 2), northern district of Texas (to 13 from 12), and southern district of Texas (to 21 from 20). (3) Effective January 21, 2029, adding judges to: central district of California (to 31 from 30), eastern district of California (to 9 from 8), northern district of California (to 17 from 16), Colorado (to 8 from 7), Delaware (to 6 from 5), Nebraska (to 4 from 3), eastern district of New York (to 16 from 15), northern district of Oklahoma (to 4 from 3? text inserts N4 E1 W6 etc.), eastern district of Texas (to 9 from 8), southern district of Texas (to 22 from 21), and western district of Texas (to 14 from 13). (4) Effective January 21, 2031, adding judges to: Arizona (to 14 from 13), central district of California (to 32 from 31), eastern district of California (to 10 from 9), and northern district of California (to 18 from 17, as listed prior to cutoff).

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary, and make publicly available, not later than two years after enactment, reports that (1) evaluate the accuracy and objectivity of case-related workload measures used by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts for district courts and courts of appeals, (2) assess the impact of non-case-related activities by district and appellate judges on judicial caseloads, (3) evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of Administrative Office policies regarding senior judges, and (4) provide related recommendations. It further directs the Comptroller General to submit to the congressional Judiciary Committees a report assessing federal agencies' needs for detention space, their efforts to acquire such space, and challenges in determining and acquiring it.

This section directs the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in consultation with the Judicial Conference of the United States, to make publicly available on its website, free of charge, the biennial report entitled “Article III Judgeship Recommendations of the Judicial Conference of the United States,” including summaries and all related appendices on (1) the process used to develop recommendations, (2) caseload and methodology changes, (3) judgeship surveys with recommendations, and (4) specific information for each court recommended for additional judgeships. The section also requires the Administrative Office to submit copies of the report to the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary.