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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|
South Carolina
District |
Eastern
District |
Western
District |
Total
Judgeships |
|
| September 24, 1789 1 Stat. 73 |
1
|
|
|
1
|
| March 3, 1911 (effective January 1, 1912) 36 Stat. 1087, 1123 (assigned the 1789 judgeship to the Eastern and Western Districts) |
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
| March 3, 1915 38 Stat. 961 (authorized a new judgeship for the Western District and assigned the 1789 judgeship to the Eastern District) |
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
| February 26, 1929 45 Stat. 1319 (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 7, 1965 79 Stat. 951 |
4
|
|
|
4
|
| June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294 |
5
|
|
|
5
|
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 |
8
|
|
|
8
|
| December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 |
9
|
|
|
9
|
| December 21, 2000 114 Stat. 2762 |
10
|
|
|
10
|
Authorized Bankruptcy Judgeships |
|
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 336 |
1 |
| October 27, 1986 100 Stat. 3088 |
2 |
| August 26, 1992 106 Stat. 965 |
3 (2 + 1 temporary) |
| December 31, 2000 Temporary judgeship expired |
2 |
| April 20, 2005 119 Stat. 196 |
3 (2 + 1 temporary) |
Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by location) |
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| Location | Full-Time | Part-Time |
| Aiken | 1 (1971–2010) | |
| Anderson or Greenville or Spartanburg | 1 (2001–present) | |
| Charleston | 1 (1976–2002) 2 (2003–present) |
1 (1971–1975) |
| Columbia | 1 (1971–1984) 2 (1985–present) |
1 (1973–1975) 0 (1976–1980) 1 (1981–1984) |
| Florence | 1 (1996–2010) 2 (2011–present) |
1 (1971–1995) |
| Greenville | 1 (1979–present) | 1 (1971–1978) |
| Spartanburg | 1 (1971–1975) | |
| Total | 1 (1971–1975) 2 (1976–1978) 3 (1979–1984) 4 (1985–1995) 5 (1996–2000) 6 (2001–2002) 7 (2003–2010) 8 (2011–present) |
5 (1971–1972) 6 (1973–1975) 3 (1976–1978) 2 (1979–1980) 3 (1981–1984) 2 (1985–1995) 1 (1996–2010) 0 (2011–present) |
Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by fiscal year) |
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| Fiscal Year(s) | Full-Time | Total | Part-Time | Total |
| 1971–1972 | Columbia | 1 | Aiken, Charleston, Florence, Greenville, Spartanburg | 5 |
| 1973–1975 | Columbia | 1 | Aiken, Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville, Spartanburg | 6 |
| 1976–1978 | Charleston, Columbia | 2 | Aiken, Florence, Greenville | 3 |
| 1979–1980 | Charleston, Columbia, Greenville | 3 | Aiken, Florence | 2 |
| 1981–1984 | Charleston, Columbia, Greenville | 3 | Aiken, Columbia, Florence | 3 |
| 1985–1995 | Charleston, Columbia (2), Greenville | 4 | Aiken, Florence | 2 |
| 1996–2000 | Charleston, Columbia (2), Florence, Greenville | 5 | Aiken | 1 |
| 2001–2002 | Anderson or Greenville or Spartanburg, Charleston, Columbia (2), Florence, Greenville | 6 | Aiken | 1 |
| 2003–2010 | Anderson or Greenville or Spartanburg, Charleston (2), Columbia (2), Florence, Greenville | 7 | Aiken | 1 |
| 2011–present | Anderson or Greenville or Spartanburg, Charleston (2), Columbia (2), Florence (2), Greenville | 8 | 0 | |