Below are tables showing authorized positions for U.S. district judges, U.S. bankruptcy judges, and U.S. magistrate judges. While district and bankruptcy judgeships are authorized by congressional statute, magistrate judgeships are authorized by the Judicial Conference of the United States. For more detail regarding the authorization of these judgeships, see the Legislative History and Succession Chart(s) pages for each district court (see menu at right), Authorized Bankruptcy Judgeships, Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by location), and Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by fiscal year).
Further explanation is provided on this page where the numbers of U.S. district court judgeships for each district do not add up to the total number of such judgeships for the state. This situation occurred when Congress authorized a single judgeship to serve more than one judicial district.
Authorized District Judgeships |
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| Arkansas District |
Eastern District |
Western District |
Total Judgeships |
|
| June 15, 1836 5 Stat. 50 |
1 | 1 | ||
| March 3, 1851 9 Stat. 594 (assigned the 1836 judgeship to the Eastern and Western Districts) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
| March 3, 1871 16 Stat. 471 (authorized a new judgeship for the Western District and assigned the 1836 judgeship to the Eastern District exclusively) |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
| May 31, 1938 52 Stat. 584 (authorized a single new judgeship for the Eastern and Western Districts) |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
| May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 (authorized a single new judgeship for the Eastern and Western Districts) |
3 |
3 |
4 |
|
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
|
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
|
| December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 (authorized a new judgeship for the Western District and assigned the 1938 and 1961 judgeships to the Eastern District exclusively) |
5 |
3 |
8 |
|
Authorized Bankruptcy Judgeships |
|
| Eastern and Western Districts | |
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 336 |
2 |
| October 27, 1986 100 Stat. 3088 |
3 |
Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by location) |
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| Eastern District | |||
| Location | Full-Time | Part-Time | Combination |
| Blytheville | 1 (1971–1974) | ||
| Forrest City | 1 (1971–1975) | ||
| Jonesboro | 1 (1971–2000) | ||
| Little Rock | 1 (1974–1978) 2 (1979–1985) 3 (1986–1990) 4 (1991–2000) 5 (2001–present) |
1 (1971–1973) | clerk-magistrate 1 (1973–1978) |
| Pine Bluff | 1 (1971–1978) | ||
| West Memphis | 1 (1976–1989) | ||
| Total | 0 (1971–1973) 1 (1974–1978) 2 (1979–1985) 3 (1986–1990) 4 (1991–2000) 5 (2001–present) |
5 (1971–1973) 4 (1974) 3 (1975–1978) 2 (1979–1989) 1 (1990–2000) 0 (2001–present) |
0 (1971–1972) 1 (1973–1978) 0 (1979–present) |
| Western District | |||
| Location | Full-Time | Part-Time | |
| El Dorado | 1 (1971–1992) | ||
| El Dorado or Hot Springs or Texarkana | 1 (1993–present) | ||
| Fayetteville | 1 (2010–present) | 1 (1971–1979) | |
| Fort Smith | 1 (1980–present) | 1 (1971–1979) | |
| Harrison | 1 (1971–1992) 0 (1993) 1 (1994–2009) |
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| Hot Springs | 1 (1971–1992) | ||
| Texarkana | 1 (1971–1985) | ||
| Total | 0 (1971–1979) 1 (1980–1992) 2 (1993–2009) 3 (2010–present) |
6 (1971–1979) 4 (1980–1985) 3 (1986–1992) 0 (1993) 1 (1994–2009) 0 (2010–present) |
|
Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by fiscal year) |
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| Eastern District | ||||||
| Fiscal Year(s) | Full-Time | Total | Part-Time | Total | Combination | Total |
| 1971–1972 | 0 | Blytheville, Forrest City, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Pine Bluff | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1973 | 0 | Blytheville, Forrest City, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Pine Bluff | 5 | Little Rock (clerk-magistrate) | 1 | |
| 1974 | Little Rock | 1 | Blytheville, Forrest City, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff | 4 | Little Rock (clerk-magistrate) | 1 |
| 1975 | Little Rock | 1 | Forrest City, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff | 3 | Little Rock (clerk-magistrate) | 1 |
| 1976–1978 | Little Rock | 1 | Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, West Memphis | 3 | Little Rock (clerk-magistrate) | 1 |
| 1979–1985 | Little Rock (2) | 2 | Jonesboro, West Memphis | 2 | 0 | |
| 1986–1989 | Little Rock (3) | 3 | Jonesboro, West Memphis | 2 | 0 | |
| 1990 | Little Rock (3) | 3 | Jonesboro | 1 | 0 | |
| 1991–2000 | Little Rock (4) | 4 | Jonesboro | 1 | 0 | |
| 2001–present | Little Rock (5) | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Western District | ||||||
| Fiscal Year(s) | Full-Time | Total | Part-Time | Total | ||
| 1971–1979 | 0 | El Dorado, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Harrison, Hot Springs, Texarkana | 6 | |||
| 1980–1985 | Fort Smith | 1 | El Dorado, Harrison, Hot Springs, Texarkana | 4 | ||
| 1986–1992 | Fort Smith | 1 | El Dorado, Harrison, Hot Springs | 3 | ||
| 1993 | El Dorado or Hot Springs or Texarkana, Fort Smith | 2 | 0 | |||
| 1994–2009 | El Dorado or Hot Springs or Texarkana, Fort Smith | 2 | Harrison | 1 | ||
| 2010–present | El Dorado or Hot Springs or Texarkana, Fayetteville, Fort Smith | 3 | 0 | |||