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28 USC Sec. 132 01/24/94
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TITLE 28 - JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
PART I - ORGANIZATION OF COURTS
CHAPTER 5 - DISTRICT COURTS
-HEAD-
Sec. 132. Creation and composition of district courts
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(a) There shall be in each judicial district a district court
which shall be a court of record known as the United States
District Court for the district.
(b) Each district court shall consist of the district judge or
judges for the district in regular active service. Justices or
judges designated or assigned shall be competent to sit as judges
of the court.
(c) Except as otherwise provided by law, or rule or order of
court, the judicial power of a district court with respect to any
action, suit or proceeding may be exercised by a single judge, who
may preside alone and hold a regular or special session of court at
the same time other sessions are held by other judges.
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(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 895; Nov. 13, 1963, Pub. L.
88-176, Sec. 2, 77 Stat. 331.)
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HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 1, and section 641 of
title 48, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Territories and Insular Possessions
(Apr. 30, 1900, ch. 339, Sec. 86, 31 Stat. 158; Mar. 3, 1909, ch.
269, Sec. 1, 35 Stat. 838; Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, Sec. 1, 36 Stat.
1087; July 30, 1914, ch. 216, 38 Stat. 580; July 19, 1921, ch. 42,
Sec. 313, 42 Stat. 119; Feb. 12, 1925, ch. 220, 43 Stat. 890; Dec.
13, 1926, ch. 6, Sec. 1, 44 Stat. 19).
Section consolidates section 1 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., and
section 641 of title 48, U.S.C., 1940 ed., with changes in
phraseology necessary to effect the consolidation.
Subsection (c) is derived from section 641 of title 48, U.S.C.,
1940 ed., which applied only to the Territory of Hawaii. The
revised section, by extending it to all districts, merely
recognizes established practice.
Other portions of section 1 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., are
incorporated in sections 133 and 134 of this title. The remainder
of section 641 of title 48, U.S.C., 1940 ed., is incorporated in
sections 91 and 133 of this title.
AMENDMENTS
1963 - Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 88-176 inserted ''regular'' before
''active service''.
CONTINUATION OF ORGANIZATION OF COURT
Section 2(b) of act June 25, 1948, provided in part that the
provisions of this title as set out in section 1 of act June 25,
1948, with respect to the organization of the court, shall be
construed as a continuation of existing law, and the tenure of the
judges, officers, and employees thereof and of the United States
attorneys and marshals and their deputies and assistants, in office
on Sept. 1, 1948, shall not be affected by its enactment, but each
of them shall continue to serve in the same capacity under the
appropriate provisions of this title pursuant to his prior
appointment.
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CROSS REFERENCES
Guam and Virgin Islands district courts, see sections 1424, 1424b
and 1611 et seq. of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
Assignment of district judges to other districts or courts, see
section 292 et seq. of this title.
Authority to create courts inferior to Supreme Court, see Const.,
Art. 3, Sec. 1.
Jurisdiction and venue of district courts, see sections 1331 et
seq. and 1391 et seq. of this title.
Three-judge courts, composition and procedure, see section 2284
of this title.
77 Stat. 331] PUBLIC LAW 88-176-NOV. 13, 1963.
Public Law 88-176
AN ACT
To clarify the status of circuit and district judges retired from regular
active service.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) paragraph
(b) of section 43 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
"(b) Each court of appeals shall consist of the circuit
judges of the circuit in regular active service. The circuit justice and
justices or judges designated or assigned shall also be competent to sit
as judges of the court."
(b) Paragraph (c) of section 46 of title 28, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
"(c) Cases and controversies shall be heard and determined
by a court or division of not more than three judges, unless a hearing
or rehearing before the court in banc is ordered by a majority of the circuit
judges of the circuit who are in regular active service· A court
in banc shall consist of all circuit judges in regular active service.
A circuit judge of the circuit who has retired from regular active service
shall also be competent to sit as a judge of the court in banc in the rehearing
of a case or controversy if he sat in the court or division at the original
hearing thereof."
Sec. 2. Paragraph (b) of section 132 of title 28, United States Code,
is amended to read as follows:
"(b) Each district court shall consist of the district judge or judges
for the district in regular active service. Justices or judges designated
or assigned shall be competent to sit as judges of the court·"
Sec. 3. The first sentence of section 332 of title 28,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "The chief judge of
each circuit shall call, at least twice in each year and at such places
as he may designate, a council of the circuit judges for the circuit, in
regular active service, at which he shall preside."
Approved November 13, 1963.
31 Stat. 141] FIFTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. SESS. I. Ch. 339. 1900.
Chap. 339.--An Act To provide a government for the Territory of Hawaii.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
31 Stat. 158] FIFTY-SIXTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. Ch.
339. 1900.
Chapter 5.--United States Officers.
Federal Court.
SEC. 86. That there shall be established in said Territory a
district court to consist of one judge, who shall reside therein and be
called the district judge. The President of the United States, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, shall appoint
a district judge, a district attorney, and a marshal of the United States
for the said district, and said judge, attorney, and marshal shall hold
office for six years unless sooner removed by the President. Said court
shall have, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction of district courts
of the United States, jurisdiction of all cases cognizable in a circuit
court of the United States, and shall proceed therein in the same manner
as a circuit court; and said judge, district attorney, and marshal shall
have and exercise in the Territory of Hawaii all the powers conferred by
the laws of the United States upon the judges, district attorneys, and
marshals of district and circuit courts of the United States. Writs of
error and appeals from said district court shall be had and allowed to
the circuit court of appeals in the ninth judicial circuit in the same
manner as writs of error and appeals are allowed from circuit courts to
circuit courts of appeals as provided by law, and the laws of the United
States relating to juries and jury trials shall be applicable to said district
court. The laws of the United States relating to appeals, writs of error,
removal of causes, and other matters and proceedings as between the courts
of the United States and the courts of the several States shall govern
in such matters and proceedings as between the courts of the United States
and the courts of the Territory of Hawaii. Regular terms of said court
shall be held at Honolulu on the second Monday in April and October and
at Hilo on the last Wednesday in January of each year; and special terms
may be held at such times and places in said district as the said judge
may deem expedient. The said district judge shall appoint a clerk for said
court at a salary of three thousand dollars per annum, and shall appoint
a reporter of said court at a salary of twelve hundred dollars per annum.
35 Stat. 838] SIXTIETH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 269. 1909.
CHAP. 269. An Act To amend section eighty-six of an Act to provide
a government for the Territory of Hawaii, to provide for additional judges,
and for other judicial purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That section eighty-six of the
Act approved April thirtieth, nineteen hundred, entitled "An Act to provide
a government for the Territory of Hawaii," be, and the same is hereby,
amended so as to read as follows:
"Sec. 86. There shall be established in the said Territory a district
court, to consist of two judges, who shall reside therein and be called
district judges, and who shall each receive an annual salary of six thousand
dollars. The said court while in session shall be presided over by only
one of said judges. The two judges shall from time to time, either by order
or rules of court, prescribe at what times and. in what class of cases
each of them shall preside. The said two judges shall have the same powers
in all matters coming before said court.
"The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate of the United States, shall appoint two district judges,
a district attorney, and a marshal of the United States for the said district,
and said judges, attorney, and marshal shall hold office for six years
unless sooner removed by the President.
"The said court shall have, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction
of district courts of the United States, jurisdiction of all cases cognizable
in a circuit court of the United States, and shall proceed therein in the
same manner as a circuit court; and the said judges, district attorney,
and marshal shall have and exercise in the Territory of Hawaii all the
powers, conferred by the laws of the United States upon the judges, district
attorneys, and marshals of district and circuit courts of the United States.
35 Stat. 839
"Writs of error and appeals, from the said district court shall be had
and allowed to the circuit court of appeals for the ninth judicial circuit
in the same manner as writs of error and appeals are allowed from circuit
courts to circuit courts of appeal as provided by law, and appeals and
writs of error may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States from
said district court in cases where appeals and writs of error are allowed
from the district and circuit courts of the United States to the Supreme
Court, and the laws of the United States relating to juries and jury trials
shall be applicabIe to said district court. The laws of the United States
relating to appeals, writs of error, removal of causes, and other matters
and proceedings as between the courts of the United States and the courts
of the several States shall govern in such matters and proceedings as between
the courts of the United States and the courts of the Territory of Hawaii.
Regular terms of said court shall be held in Honolulu on the second Monday
in April and October, and special terms may be held at such times and places
in said district as the said judges may deem expedient. The said district
judges shall appoint a clerk of said court at a salary of three thousand
dollars per annum and shall appoint a reporter of said court at a salary
of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum: Provided, That writs of
error and appeals may also be taken from the supreme court of the Territory
of Hawaii to the Supreme Court of the United States in all cases where
the amount involved, exclusive of costs, exceeds the sum or value of five
thousand dollars."
36 Stat. 1087] SIXTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. III. CH. 231.
1911.
CHAP. 231.--An Act To codify, revise, and amend the laws relating to
the judiciary.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the laws relating
to the judiciary be, and they hereby are, codified, revised, and amended,
with title, chapters, head-notes, and sections, entitled, numbered, and
to read as follows:
TITLE.
THE JUDICIARY.
CHAPTER ONE.
DISTRICT COURTS---ORGANIZATION.
Sec. 1. In each of the districts described in chapter five, there
shall be a court called a district court, for which there shall be appointed
one judge, to be called a district judge; except that in the northern district
of California, the northern district of Illinois, the district of Maryland,
the district of Minnesota, the district of Nebraska, the district of New
Jersey, the eastern district of New York, the northern and southern districts
of Ohio, the districts of Oregon, the eastern and western districts of
Pennsvlvania, and the western district of Washington, there shall be an
additional district judge in each, and in the southern district of New
York, three additional district judges: Provided, That whenever a vacancy
shall occur in the office of the district judge for the district of Maryland,
senior in commission, such vacancy shall not be filled, and thereafter
there shall be but one district judge in said district: Provided further,
That there shall be one judge for the eastern and western districts of
South Carolina, one judge for the eastern and middle districts of Tennessee,
and one judge for the northern and southern districts of Mississippi: Provided
further, That the district judge for the middle district of Alabama shall
continue as heretofore to be a district judge for the northern district
thereof. Every district judge shall reside in' the district or one of the
districts for which he is appointed, and for offending against this provision
shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor.
38 Stat. 580] SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS, Sess. II.- Ch. 216.
1914.
CHAP. 216.--An Act To amend section one of an Act entitled "An
Act to codify, revise, and amend the laws relating to the judiciary," approved
March third, nineteen hundred and eleven.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That section one of the Act entitled
"An Act to codify, revise, and amend the laws relating to the judiciary,"
approved March third, nineteen hundred and eleven, be, and is hereby, amended
to read as follows:
"Section 1. In each of the districts described in chapter five there
shall be a court called a district court, for which there shall be appointed
one judge, to be called a district judge, except that in the northern district
of California, the southern district of California, the
38 Stat. 581]
northern district of Illinois, the district of Minnesota, the district
of Nebraska, the district of New Jersey, the eastern district of New York,
the northern and southern districts of Ohio, the district of Oregon, the
eastern and western districts of Pennsylvania, and the western district
of Washington, there shall be an additional district judge in each, and
in the southern district of New York three additional district judges:
Provided, That there shall be one judge for the eastern and western districts
of South Carolina, one judge for the eastern and middle districts of Tennessee,
and one judge for the northern and southern districts of Mississippi: Provided
further, That the district judge for the middle district of Alabama shall
continue as heretofore to be a district judge for the northern district
thereof. Every district judge shall reside in the district or one of the
districts for which he is appointed, and for offending against this provision
shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor."
Approved, July 30, 1914.
42 Stat. 119] SIXTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS. Sess. I. CH. 42.
1921.
Sec. 313. Section 86 of the Hawaiian Organic Act is hereby amended to
read as follows:
"Sec. 86. (a) That there shall be established in the said Territory
a district court, to consist of two judges, who shall reside therein and
be called district judges, and who shall each receive an annual salary
of $7,500. The said court while in session shall be presided over by only
one of said judges. The two judges shall from time to time, either by order
or rules of the court, prescribe at what times and in what class of cases
each of them shall preside. The said two judges shall have the same powers
in all matters coming before said court."
42 Stat. 120
(b) The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate of the United States, shall appoint two district judges,
a district attorney, and a marshal of the United States for the said district,
all of whom shall be citizens of the Territory of Hawaii and shall have
resided therein for at least three years next preceding their appointment.
Said judges, attorney, and marshal shall hold office for six years unless
sooner removed by the President.
"(c) The said court shall have, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction
of district courts of the United States, jurisdiction of all cases cognizable
in a circuit court of the United States, and shall proceed therein in the
same manner as a circuit court; and the said judges, district attorney,
and marshal shall have and exercise in the Territory of Hawaii all the
powers conferred by the laws of the United States upon the judges, district
attorneys, and marshals of district and circuit courts of the United States.
"(d) Writs of error and appeals from the said district court shall be
had and allowed to the circuit court of appeals for the ninth judicial
circuit in the same manner as writs of error and appeals are allowed from
circuit courts to circuit courts of appeal as provided by law, and appeals
and writs of error may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States
from said district court in cases where appeals and writs of error are
allowed from the district and circuit courts of the United States to the
Supreme Court, and the laws of the United States relating to juries and
jury trials shall be applicable to said district court. The laws of the
United States relating to appeals, writs of error, removal of causes, and
other matters and proceedings as between the courts of the United States
and the courts of the several States shall govern in such matters and proceedings
as between the courts of the United States and the courts of the Territory
of Hawaii. Regular terms of said court shall be held at Honolulu on the
second Monday in April and October, and special terms may be held at such
times and places in said district as the said judges may deem expedient.
The said district judges shall appoint a clerk of said court at a salary
of $4,200 per annum and shall appoint a reporter of said court at a salary
of $3,000 per annum. The clerk of the district court with the approval
of the judges thereof may appoint two deputy clerks at salaries of $2,500
each per annum.
43 Stat. 890] SIXTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 220.
1925.
Chap. 220.-An Act To authorize each of the judges of the United
States District Court for the District of Hawaii to hold sessions of the
said court separately at the same time.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the ·
United States of America in Congress assembled, That subdivision (a) of
section 86 of the Hawaiian Organic Act, as amended, is amended to read
as follows:
"Sec. 86. (a) That there shall be established in the said Territory
a district court, to consist of two judges, who shall reside therein and
be called district judges, and who shall each receive an annual salary
of $7,500. Tho two judges shall from time to time, either by order or rules
of the court, prescribe at what times and in what classes of cases each
of them shalI preside.
The two judges may each hold separately and at the same time a
session of the court (whether at the same or different terms of court,
regular or special) and may preside alone over such session. The said two
judges shall have the same powers in all matters coming before the court;
and in case two sessions of the court are held at the same time, the judgments,
orders, verdicts, and all proceedings of a session of the court, held by
either of the judges, shall be as effective as if one session only were
being held at a time."
Approved, February 12, 1925.
44 Stat. 919] SIXTY-NINTH CONGRESS. Sess. II. Ch. 6. 1926.
[Historical notes reference 44 Stat. 19 which
appears to be an error.]
CHAP. 6.--An Act To fix the salaries of certain judges of the United
States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That the following salaries shall
be paid to the several judges hereinafter mentioned in lieu of the salaries
now provided by law, namely:
To the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States the sum
of $20,500 per year, and to each of the Associate Justices thereof the
sum of $20,000 per year.
To each of the circuit judges the sum of $12,500 per year.
To each of the district judges the sum of $10,000 per year.
To the presiding judge of the United States Court of Customs Appeals,
and to each of the other judges thereof, the sum of $12,500 per year.
To the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia,
and to each of the associate justices thereof, the sum of $12,500 per year.
To the Chief Justice of the Court of Claims, and to each of the other
judges thereof, the sum of $12,500 per year.
To the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia,
$10,500 per year, and to each of the associate justices thereof the sum
of $10,000 per year.
44 Stat. 92O]
To each of the members of the Board of General Appraisers, which board
functions as the Customs trial court, the sum of $10,000 per year.
That all of said salaries shall be paid in monthly installments.
Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect on the first day of the first month
next following its approval.
Approved, December 13, 1926.