Home : Newsroom : Judicial Conference Seeks New Bankruptcy Judgeships
| I write today on behalf of
the Judicial Conference of the United States to advise you of its September
2002 recommendation for the authorization of additional bankruptcy judgeships
and to seek your leadership and support in passing legislation to create
these important and necessary positions.
The federal judiciary strives to fully utilize our existing resources to provide the highest quality of justice in an efficient and effective manner while minimizing requests to Congress for additional bankruptcy judgeships. Since Congress last authorized additional bankruptcy judgeships in 1992, however, the volume of bankruptcy filings has increased markedly, reaching a historic high of over 1.5 million filings for fiscal year 2002 and resulting in a 59 percent increase in the caseload of bankruptcy judges. Accordingly, the strain on our judicial resources has left the judiciary with no recourse but to request that Congress authorize the creation of 36 additional United States bankruptcy judgeships in 22 judicial districts, as follows:
In addition to the creation of 36 bankruptcy judgeships, the Judicial Conference also recommends changes to several existing temporary judgeships that were authorized by Section 3 of Pub. L. No. 102-361, as amended Pub. L. No. 104-317, Title III, § 307, Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3852 (28 U.S.C. § 152 (note)). The Judicial Conference recommends that Congress convert the existing temporary bankruptcy judgeships in the District of Puerto Rico and the District of Delaware to permanent bankruptcy judgeships based upon the continuing heavy judicial workload for those districts. Further, the Judicial Conference recommends that Congress extend the existing temporary judgeships in the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Northern District of Alabama for five years from the date of enactment of bankruptcy judgeship legislation in the 108th Congress. Lastly, the Judicial Conference recommends that Congress convert the existing permanent judgeship shared by the Southern District of Georgia and the Middle District of Georgia to a full-time permanent judgeship for the Middle District of Georgia. Your assistance to the federal judiciary and the bankruptcy courts is very much appreciated.
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