Judiciary Asks Congress for New Bankruptcy Judgeships
Bankruptcy filings have increased by more than half since 1992, with no new bankruptcy judgeships to help handle the workload. The Judiciary has made the most of existing resources to provide needed services, but the current strain threatens the quality of justice. More bankruptcy judgeships are needed and the Judicial Conference has asked Congressional leaders in the 108th Congress to create 36 new judgeships to help the 22 hardest-hit judicial districts.
"Since Congress last authorized additional bankruptcy judgeships in 1992," Administrative Office Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham wrote on behalf of the Conference, "the volume of bankruptcy filings has increased markedly, reaching an 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." The resulting strain placed on judicial resources, according to Mecham, has left the Judiciary with no alternative but to request the new bankruptcy judgeships.
The Judiciary applies weights to filings in the U.S. bankruptcy courts to account for the different amounts of time judges require to resolve actions. A typical chapter 7 consumer case (the most numerous of the bankruptcy cases filed) requires only a fraction of an hour of judge time. The average large chapter 11 case, on the other hand, can require more than 25 hours of judge time. From the time when the last bankruptcy judgeships were created in August, 1992, weighted filings in the districts currently requesting judgeships increased just over 50 percent. At the end of September 1992, 15 of the 22 districts had weighted filings per authorized judgeship exceeding the 1,500 filing mark set by the Judicial Conference as a guideline for authorizing additional judgeships. One measure of how pressed these districts are is that although they are collectively requesting 36 new judgeships, the level of weighted filings in these districts would justify a total request of 78 judges.
Over the last three Congresses, authorization for additional bankruptcy judgeships has been included in bankruptcy reform legislation. None of these bills, however, was signed into law, and no new bankruptcy judgeships were created. The Conference hopes that in the 108th Congress separate legislation will be introduced just for new bankruptcy judgeships.
In addition, 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 on the continuing heavy judicial workload for those districts. The Conference also 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.
| District | Number |
Status |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | Temporary |
| New York (N) | 1 | Temporary |
| New York (S) | 2 | Permanent |
| Delaware | 4 | Permanent |
| New Jersey | 1 | Permanent |
| Pennsylvania(E) | 1 | Permanent |
| Pennsylvania(M) | 1 | Temporary |
| Maryland | 4 | 3 Permanent,1 Temporary |
| North Carolina (E) | 1 | Permanent |
| South Carolina | 1 | Permanent |
| Virginia (E) | 1 | Permanent |
| Mississippi (N) | 1 | Temporary |
| Mississippi (S) | 1 | Temporary |
| Michigan(E) | 2 | Permanent |
| Tennessee | 2 | Permanent |
| Arkansas (E&W) | 1 | Permanent |
| Nevada | 2 | Permanent |
| Utah | 1 | Permanent |
| Florida (M) | 2 | Permanent |
| Florida (S) | 2 | Permanent |
| Georgia (S) | 2 | 1 Permanent, 1 Temporary |
| Georgia (N) | 2 | Permanent |
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