II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1296

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the appointment 

of additional Federal circuit judges, to divide the Ninth Judicial Circuit 

of the United States into 2 circuits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2005

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. BURNS, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. 

CRAPO, Mr. KYL, and Mr. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the 

appointment of additional Federal circuit judges, to divide the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the United States 

into 2 circuits, 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 ‘‘Ninth Circuit Judge5 ship and Reorganization Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 
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1 (1) FORMER NINTH CIRCUIT.—The term 

2 ‘‘former ninth circuit’’ means the ninth judicial cir3 cuit of the United States as in existence on the day 

4 before the effective date of this Act. 

5 (2) NEW NINTH CIRCUIT.—The term ‘‘new 

6 ninth circuit’’ means the ninth judicial circuit of the 

7 United States established by the amendment made 

8 by section 3(2)(A). 

9 (3) TWELFTH CIRCUIT.—The term ‘‘twelfth cir10 cuit’’ means the twelfth judicial circuit of the United 

11 States established by the amendment made by sec12 tion 3(2)(B). 

13 SEC. 3. NUMBER AND COMPOSITION OF CIRCUITS. 

14 Section 41 of title 28, United States Code, is amend15 ed—

16 (1) in the matter preceding the table, by strik17 ing ‘‘thirteen’’ and inserting ‘‘fourteen’’; and 

18 (2) in the table—

19 (A) by striking the item relating to the 

20 ninth circuit and inserting the following:

‘‘Ninth ........................................... California, Guam, Hawaii, Northern 

Marianas Islands.’’;

21 and 

22 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

23 the eleventh circuit the following:

‘‘Twelfth ........................................ Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. JUDGESHIPS. 

2 (a) NEW JUDGESHIPS.—The President shall appoint, 

3 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 5 addi4 tional circuit judges for the new ninth circuit court of ap5 peals, whose official duty station shall be in California. 

6 The judges authorized by this paragraph shall not be ap7 pointed before January 21, 2006. 

8 (b) TEMPORARY JUDGESHIPS.—

9 (1) APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES.—The President 

10 shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of 

11 the Senate, 2 additional circuit judges for the former 

12 ninth circuit court of appeals, whose official duty 

13 stations shall be in California. 

14 (2) EFFECT OF VACANCIES.—The first 2 vacan15 cies occurring on the new ninth circuit court of ap16 peals 10 years or more after judges are first con17 firmed to fill both temporary circuit judgeships cre18 ated by this subsection shall not be filled. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

20 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 5. NUMBER OF CIRCUIT JUDGES. 

22 The table contained in section 44(a) of title 28, 

23 United States Code, is amended—

24 (1) by striking the item relating to the ninth 

25 circuit and inserting the following:

‘‘Ninth ....................................................................................................... 19’’;
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1 and 

2 (2) by inserting after the item relating to the 

3 eleventh circuit the following:

‘‘Twelfth .................................................................................................... 14’’.

4 SEC. 6. PLACES OF CIRCUIT COURT. 

5 The table contained in section 48(a) of title 28, 

6 United States Code, is amended—

7 (1) by striking the item relating to the ninth 

8 circuit and inserting the following:

‘‘Ninth ........................................... Honolulu, San Francisco.’’;

9 and 

10 (2) by inserting after the item relating to the 

11 eleventh circuit the following:

‘‘Twelfth ........................................ Phoenix, Portland, Missoula.’’.

12 SEC. 7. LOCATION OF TWELFTH CIRCUIT HEADQUARTERS. 

13 The offices of the Circuit Executive of the Twelfth 

14 Circuit and the Clerk of the Court of the Twelfth Circuit 

15 shall be located in Phoenix, Arizona. 

16 SEC. 8. ASSIGNMENT OF CIRCUIT JUDGES. 

17 Each circuit judge of the former ninth circuit who 

18 is in regular active service and whose official duty station 

19 on the day before the effective date of this Act—

20 (1) is in California, Guam, Hawaii, or the 

21 Northern Marianas Islands shall be a circuit judge 

22 of the new ninth circuit as of such effective date; 

23 and 
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1 (2) is in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Ne2 vada, Oregon, or Washington shall be a circuit judge 

3 of the twelfth circuit as of such effective date. 

4 SEC. 9. ELECTION OF ASSIGNMENT BY SENIOR JUDGES. 

5 Each judge who is a senior circuit judge of the former 

6 ninth circuit on the day before the effective date of this 

7 Act may elect to be assigned to the new ninth circuit or 

8 the twelfth circuit as of such effective date and shall notify 

9 the Director of the Administrative Office of the United 

10 States Courts of such election. 

11 SEC. 10. SENIORITY OF JUDGES. 

12 The seniority of each judge—

13 (1) who is assigned under section 8, or 

14 (2) who elects to be assigned under section 9, 

15 shall run from the date of commission of such judge as 

16 a judge of the former ninth circuit.

17 SEC. 11. APPLICATION TO CASES. 

18 The following apply to any case in which, on the day 

19 before the effective date of this Act, an appeal or other 

20 proceeding has been filed with the former ninth circuit:

21 (1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the 

22 matter has been submitted for decision, further pro23 ceedings with respect to the matter shall be had in 

24 the same manner and with the same effect as if this 

25 Act had not been enacted. 
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1 (2) If the matter has not been submitted for de2 cision, the appeal or proceeding, together with the 

3 original papers, printed records, and record entries 

4 duly certified, shall, by appropriate orders, be trans5 ferred to the court to which the matter would have 

6 been submitted had this Act been in full force and 

7 effect at the time such appeal was taken or other 

8 proceeding commenced, and further proceedings with 

9 respect to the case shall be had in the same manner 

10 and with the same effect as if the appeal or other 

11 proceeding had been filed in such court. 

12 (3) If a petition for rehearing en banc is pend13 ing on or after the effective date of this Act, the pe14 tition shall be considered by the court of appeals to 

15 which it would have been submitted had this Act 

16 been in full force and effect at the time that the ap17 peal or other proceeding was filed with the court of 

18 appeals. 

19 SEC. 12. TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT OF CIRCUIT JUDGES 

20 AMONG CIRCUITS. 

21 Section 291 of title 28, United States Code, is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(c) The chief judge of the Ninth Circuit may, in the 

24 public interest and upon request by the chief judge of the 

25 Twelfth Circuit, designate and assign temporarily any cir-
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1 cuit judge of the Ninth Circuit to act as circuit judge in 

2 the Twelfth Circuit. 

3 ‘‘(d) The chief judge of the Twelfth Circuit may, in 

4 the public interest and upon request by the chief judge 

5 of the Ninth Circuit, designate and assign temporarily any 

6 circuit judge of the Twelfth Circuit to act as circuit judge 

7 in the Ninth Circuit.’’. 

8 SEC. 13. TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT OF DISTRICT JUDGES 

9 AMONG CIRCUITS. 

10 Section 292 of title 28, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(f) The chief judge of the United States Court of 

13 Appeals for the Ninth Circuit may in the public interest—

14 ‘‘(1) upon request by the chief judge of the 

15 Twelfth Circuit, designate and assign 1 or more dis16 trict judges within the Ninth Circuit to sit upon the 

17 Court of Appeals of the Twelfth Circuit, or a divi18 sion thereof, whenever the business of that court so 

19 requires; and 

20 ‘‘(2) designate and assign temporarily any dis21 trict judge within the Ninth Circuit to hold a district 

22 court in any district within the Twelfth Circuit. 

23 ‘‘(g) The chief judge of the United States Court of 

24 Appeals for the Twelfth Circuit may in the public inter25 est—
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1 ‘‘(1) upon request by the chief judge of the 

2 Ninth Circuit, designate and assign 1 or more dis3 trict judges within the Twelfth Circuit to sit upon 

4 the Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit, or a divi5 sion thereof, whenever the business of that court so 

6 requires; and 

7 ‘‘(2) designate and assign temporarily any dis8 trict judge within the Twelfth Circuit to hold a dis9 trict court in any district within the Ninth Circuit. 

10 ‘‘(h) Any designations or assignments under sub11 section (f) or (g) shall be in conformity with the rules or 

12 orders of the court of appeals of, or the district within, 

13 as applicable, the circuit to which the judge is designated 

14 or assigned.’’. 

15 SEC. 14. ADMINISTRATION. 

16 The court of appeals for the ninth circuit as con17 stituted on the day before the effective date of this Act 

18 may take such administrative action as may be required 

19 to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this 

20 Act. Such court shall cease to exist for administrative pur21 poses 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 15. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 Except as provided in section 4(c), this Act and the 

3 amendments made by this Act shall take effect 12 months 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act.

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