II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 632 

To amend title 28 of the United States Code to authorize the appointment 

of additional bankruptcy judges; and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2017 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. NELSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28 of the United States Code to authorize 

the appointment of additional bankruptcy judges; and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bankruptcy Judgeship 

5 Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONVERSION OF THE TEMPORARY OFFICE OF 

2 BANKRUPTCY JUDGE TO THE PERMANENT 

3 OFFICE OF BANKRUPTCY JUDGE IN CERTAIN 

4 JUDICIAL DISTRICTS. 

5 (a) DISTRICT OF DELAWARE.— 

6 (1) The temporary office of 4 bankruptcy 

7 judges authorized for the district of Delaware by 

8 section 1223(b)(1)(C) of Public Law 109–8 (119 

9 Stat. 196; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), and extended by 

10 section 2(a)(1)(C) of Public Law 112–121 (126 

11 Stat. 346; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted hereby 

12 to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge and 

13 represented in the amendment made by section 3(1) 

14 of this Act. 

15 (2) The temporary office of bankruptcy judge 

16 authorized for the district of Delaware by section 

17 3(a)(3) of Public Law 102–361 (106 Stat. 966; 28 

18 U.S.C. 152 note), and extended by section 

19 1223(c)(1) of Public Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 198; 28 

20 U.S.C. 152 note) and section 2(b)(1) of Public Law 

21 112–121 (126 Stat. 347; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is 

22 converted hereby to the permanent office of bank23 ruptcy judge and represented in the amendment 

24 made by section 3(1) of this Act. 

25 (b) SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA.—The tem26 porary office of 2 bankruptcy judges authorized for the 


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1 southern district of Florida by section 1223(b)(1)(D) of 

2 Public Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 197; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), 

3 and extended by section 2(a)(1)(D) of Public Law 112– 

4 121 (126 Stat. 346; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted 

5 hereby to the permanent offices of bankruptcy judges and 

6 represented in the amendment made by section 3(3) of 

7 this Act. 

8 (c) DISTRICT OF MARYLAND.—The temporary office 

9 of the 2 bankruptcy judges first appointed as authorized 

10 for the district of Maryland by section 1223(b)(1)(F) of 

11 Public Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 197; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), 

12 and extended by section 2(a)(1)(F) of Public Law 112– 

13 121 (126 Stat. 346; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted 

14 hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge and 

15 represented in the amendment made by section 3(4) of 

16 this Act. 

17 (d) EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN.—The tem18 porary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the east19 ern district of Michigan by section 1223(b)(1)(G) of Pub20 lic Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 197; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), and 

21 extended by section 2(a)(1)(G) of Public Law 112–121 

22 (126 Stat. 346; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted hereby 

23 to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge and rep24 resented in the amendment made by section 3(5) of this 

25 Act. 


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1 (e) DISTRICT OF NEVADA.—The temporary office of 

2 bankruptcy judge authorized for the district of Nevada by 

3 section 1223(b)(1)(T) of Public Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 

4 197; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), and extended by section 

5 2(a)(1)(Q) of Public Law 112–121 (126 Stat. 346; 28 

6 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted hereby to the permanent 

7 office of bankruptcy judge and represented in the amend8 ment made by section 3(6) of this Act. 

9 (f) EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA.—The 

10 temporary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the 

11 eastern district of North Carolina by section 

12 1223(b)(1)(M) of Public Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 197; 28 

13 U.S.C. 152 note), and extended by section 2(a)(1)(J) of 

14 Public Law 112–121 (126 Stat. 346; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), 

15 is converted hereby to the permanent office of bankruptcy 

16 judge and represented in the amendment made by section 

17 3(7) of this Act. 

18 (g) DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO.— 

19 (1) The temporary office of bankruptcy judge 

20 authorized for the district of Puerto Rico by section 

21 1223(b)(1)(P) of Public Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 197; 

22 28 U.S.C. 152 note), and extended by section 

23 2(a)(1)(M) of Public Law 112–121 (126 Stat. 346; 

24 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted hereby to the perVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Mar 18, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S632.IS S632

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1 manent office of bankruptcy judge and represented 

2 in the amendment made by section 3(8) of this Act. 

3 (2) The temporary office of bankruptcy judge 

4 authorized for the district of Puerto Rico by section 

5 3(a)(7) of Public Law 102–361 (106 Stat. 966; 28 

6 U.S.C. 152 note), and extended by section 

7 1223(c)(1) of Public Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 198; 28 

8 U.S.C. 152 note) and section 2(b)(1) of Public Law 

9 112–121 (126 Stat. 347; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is 

10 converted hereby to the permanent office of bank11 ruptcy judge and is represented in the amendment 

12 made by section 3(8) of this Act. 

13 (h) WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE.—The tem14 porary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the west15 ern district of Tennessee by section 1223(b)(1)(Q) of Pub16 lic Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 197; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), and 

17 extended by section 2(a)(1)(O) of Public Law 112–121 

18 (126 Stat. 346; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted hereby 

19 to the permanent office of bankruptcy judge and is rep20 resented in the amendment made by section 3(9) of this 

21 Act. 

22 (i) EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA.—The tem23 porary office of bankruptcy judge authorized for the east24 ern district of Virginia by section 1223(b)(1)(R) of Public 

25 Law 109–8 (119 Stat. 197; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), and exVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Mar 18, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S632.IS S632

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1 tended by section 2(a)(1)(P) of Public Law 112–121 (126 

2 Stat. 346; 28 U.S.C. 152 note), is converted hereby to 

3 the permanent office of bankruptcy judge and is rep4 resented in the amendment made by section 3(10) of this 

5 Act. 

6 SEC. 3. PERMANENT OFFICE OF BANKRUPTCY JUDGE AU7 THORIZED. 

8 To reflect the conversion of the temporary office of 

9 bankruptcy judge to the permanent office of bankruptcy 

10 judge made by the operation of section 2, and to authorize 

11 the appointment of additional bankruptcy judges, section 

12 152(a)(2) of title 28 of the United States Code is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) in the item relating to the district of Dela15 ware by striking ‘‘1’’ and inserting ‘‘8’’, 

16 (2) in the item relating to the middle district of 

17 Florida by striking ‘‘8’’ and inserting ‘‘10’’, 

18 (3) in the item relating to the southern district 

19 of Florida by striking ‘‘5’’ and inserting ‘‘7’’, 

20 (4) in the item relating to the district of Mary21 land by striking ‘‘4’’ and inserting ‘‘6’’, 

22 (5) in the item relating to the eastern district 

23 of Michigan by striking ‘‘4’’ and inserting ‘‘7’’, 

24 (6) in the item relating to the district of Ne25 vada by striking ‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘4’’, 


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1 (7) in the item relating to the eastern district 

2 of North Carolina by striking ‘‘2’’ and inserting ‘‘3’’, 

3 (8) in the item relating to the district of Puerto 

4 Rico by striking ‘‘2’’ and inserting ‘‘4’’, 

5 (9) in the item relating to the western district 

6 of Tennessee by striking ‘‘4’’ and inserting ‘‘5’’, and 

7 (10) in the item relating to the eastern district 

8 of Virginia by striking ‘‘5’’ and inserting ‘‘6’’. 

Æ 


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