United States Federal Judge - Number of Judges

Number of Judges

The total number of active federal judges is constantly in flux, for two reasons. First, judges retire or die, and a lapse of time usually occurs before new judges are appointed to fill those positions. Second, from time to time Congress will increase (or, less frequently, decrease) the number of federal judgeships in a particular judicial district, usually in response to shifting population numbers or a changing workload in that district.

As of May 2012, a total of 3,294 individuals had been appointed to federal judgeships, including 2,758 district court judges, 714 courts of appeals judges, 95 judges to the now-extinct circuit courts, and 112 Supreme Court justices. This adds up to 3,679 total appointments; a substantial number of appellate judges (including Supreme Court justices) had previously served on the lower court bench.

There are currently 874 authorized Article III judgeships: nine on the Supreme Court, 179 on the courts of appeals, nine on the Court of International Trade and 677 for the district courts. Although the number of Supreme Court justices has remained the same for well over a century, the number of court of appeals judges has more than doubled since 1950, and the number of district court judges has increased more than three-fold in that period.