| February 9, 1893 27 Stat. 434 |
Congress established the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia and authorized one chief justice and two associate justices to serve on the court. |
| June 19, 1930 46 Stat. 785 |
Two additional associate justiceships authorized for the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. |
| June 7, 1934 48 Stat. 926 |
This act changed the name of the court to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. |
| July 5, 1937 50 Stat. 473 |
Congress provided the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia with representation on the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges (later the Judicial Conference of the United States). |
| February 11, 1938 52 Stat. 28 |
This act amended the act of March 1, 1937, 50 Stat. 24, by terming the District of Columbia a "judicial circuit" for purposes of the assignment of retired justices of the Supreme Court to duties in the circuits. Following the act, the Supreme Court began to allot sitting justices as well as retired justices to the District of Columbia Circuit. |
| May 31, 1938 52 Stat. 584 |
One additional associate justiceship authorized for the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. |
| June 25, 1948 62 Stat. 869, 985 |
The act changed the name of the court to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The act also provided that the chief justice of the court would, as of September 1, 1948, be known as the chief judge. This act was amended by the act of September 3, 1954, 68 Stat. 1226, 1245, which provided retroactively that as of September 1, 1948, the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit were judges in the same sense as judges of other U.S. courts of appeals. |
| August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493 |
Three additional circuit judgeships authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. |
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 |
Two additional circuit judgeships authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. |
| October 26, 1978 92 Stat. 1873 |
Congress established a special division of the court for the appointment of special prosecutors to investigate allegations against public officials. The divsion was presided over by three judges of the U.S. courts of appeals, one of whom was required to be from the D.C. Circuit and no two of whom could be from the same circuit. The statute authorizing the special division expired in 1999. |
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333 |
One additional circuit judgeship authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. |
| Jan. 7, 2008 121 Stat. 2534 |
This act reduced the number of authorized seats on the court from twelve to eleven. |
| Authorized Judgeships | |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1930 | 5 |
| 1938 | 6 |
| 1949 | 9 |
| 1978 | 11 |
| 1984 | 12 |
| 2008 | 11 |