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U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Illinois: Legislative History

March 3, 1819
3 Stat. 502
Congress organized Illinois as one judicial district and authorized one judgeship for the district court. The U.S. district court in Illinois, not being assigned to a judicial circuit, was granted the same jurisdiction as U.S. circuit courts, except in appeals and writs of error, which were the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
March 3, 1837
5 Stat. 176
Congress repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Illinois, established a U.S. circuit court in the district, and assigned the district to the Seventh Circuit.
February 13, 1855
10 Stat. 606
Illinois divided into two judicial districts, the Northern and the Southern, with one judgeship authorized for each district. The act assigned the judge for the District of Illinois to the Northern District.
July 15, 1862
12 Stat. 576
Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned the districts of Illinois to the Eighth Circuit.
July 23, 1866
14 Stat. 209
Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned the districts of Illinois to the Seventh Circuit.
March 3, 1905
33 Stat. 992
The act established the Eastern District of Illinois and authorized one judgeship for the district court. The act also authorized an additional judgeship for the Northern District.
September 14, 1922
42 Stat. 837
One temporary judgeship authorized for both the Northern and Eastern Districts.
May 29, 1928
45 Stat. 974
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1922 for the Northern District made permanent.
July 3, 1930
46 Stat. 1006
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1922 for the Eastern District made permanent.
February 20, 1931
46 Stat. 1196
One additional judgeship authorized for the Southern District.
February 25, 1931
46 Stat. 1417
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District.
May 31, 1938
52 Stat. 584
One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District.
May 24, 1940
54 Stat. 219
Temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District.
August 14, 1950
64 Stat. 443
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District.
May 19, 1961
75 Stat. 80
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District.
March 18, 1966
80 Stat. 75
One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District.
June 2, 1970
84 Stat. 294
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District.
October 2, 1978
92 Stat. 883
Illinois reorganized into the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts effective March 31, 1979, with thirteen judgeships authorized for the Northern District, two for the Central District, and two for the Southern District.
October 20, 1978
92 Stat. 1629
Three additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District and one for the Central District.
March 30, 1979
93 Stat. 6
Amended act of October 2, 1978, to authorize one additional judgeship for the Southern District. The act also authorized the transfer to the Southern District of one judgeship from the Eastern District and the transfer to the Central District of one judgeship from the Eastern District and two judgeships from the Southern District. When the act went into effect on March 31, 1979, there were sixteen judgeships in the Northern District, two in the Southern District, and three in the Central District.
July 10, 1984
98 Stat. 333
Four additional permanent judgeships and one temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District and one additional permanent judgeship for the Southern District.
December 1, 1990
104 Stat. 5089
One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District, one temporary judgeship authorized for the Central District, one temporary judgeship authorized for the Southern District, and the temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District in 1984 made permanent. (Statutory provisions authorizing temporary judgeships in the Central District and Southern District were revised by 109 Stat. 635 and the judgeships were extended by 111 Stat. 1173.) Under the terms of the act, a new judge is to be appointed to any court from which an active judge "assumes the duties of a full-time office of Federal judicial administration." If the judge assuming such a position returns as an active judge of the court, the first vacancy occurring thereafter will not be filled. This act thus provided for the appointment of another judge to the Northern District on December 5, 2022, when a sitting judge, Robert M. Dow, Jr., became counselor to the chief justice of the United States.
November 2, 2002
116 Stat. 1758
Temporary judgeships authorized in 1990 for the Central and Southern districts made permanent.

 

 

 

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