II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1634 

To allow United States courts to conduct business during emergency 

conditions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2005 

Mr. FRIST (for Mr. VITTER) (for himself, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. 

LEAHY, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. HATCH, Mr. LOTT, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. GRASSLEY, and Mr. KYL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed 

A BILL 

To allow United States courts to conduct business during 

emergency conditions, 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 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Federal Judiciary Emergency Special Sessions Act of 

6 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT COURT PRO2 CEEDINGS OUTSIDE THE TERRITORIAL JU3 RISDICTION OF THE COURT. 

4 (a) CIRCUIT COURTS.—Section 48 of title 28, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(e) Each court of appeals may hold special sessions 

8 at any place within the United States outside the circuit 

9 as the nature of the business may require and upon such 

10 notice as the court orders, upon a finding by either the 

11 chief judge of the court of appeals (or, if the chief judge 

12 is unavailable, the most senior available active judge of 

13 the court of appeals) or the judicial council of the circuit 

14 that, because of emergency conditions, no location within 

15 the circuit is reasonably available where such special ses16 sions could be held. The court may transact any business 

17 at a special session outside the circuit which it might 

18 transact at a regular session. 

19 ‘‘(f) If a court of appeals issues an order exercising 

20 its authority under subsection (e), the court— 

21 ‘‘(1) through the Administrative Office of the 

22 United States Courts, shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) send notice of such order, including 

24 the reasons for the issuance of such order, to 

25 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 
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1 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

2 House of Representatives; and 

3 ‘‘(B) not later than 180 days after the ex4 piration of such court order submit a brief re5 port to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

6 Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

7 the House of Representatives describing the im8 pact of such order, including— 

9 ‘‘(i) the reasons for the issuance of 

10 such order; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the duration of such order; 

12 ‘‘(iii) the impact of such order on liti13 gants; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) the costs to the judiciary result15 ing from such order; and 

16 ‘‘(2) shall provide reasonable notice to the 

17 United States Marshals Service before the com18 mencement of any special session held pursuant to 

19 such order.’’. 

20 (b) DISTRICT COURTS.—Section 141 of title 28, 

21 United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)(1)’’ before ‘‘Special’’; 

23 (2) by inserting ‘‘(2)’’ before ‘‘Any’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(b)(1) Special sessions of the district court may be 

2 held at such places within the United States outside the 

3 district as the nature of the business may require and 

4 upon such notice as the court orders, upon a finding by 

5 either the chief judge of the district court (or, if the chief 

6 judge is unavailable, the most senior available active judge 

7 of the district court) or the judicial council of the circuit 

8 that, because of emergency conditions, no location within 

9 the district is reasonably available where such special ses10 sions could be held. 

11 ‘‘(2) Pursuant to this subsection, any business which 

12 may be transacted at a regular session of a district court 

13 may be transacted at a special session conducted outside 

14 the district, except that a criminal trial may not be con15 ducted at a special session outside of the State in which 

16 the crime has been committed unless the defendant con17 sents to such a criminal trial. 

18 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in 

19 any case in which a special session is conducted pursuant 

20 to this subsection, the district court may summon jurors— 

21 ‘‘(A) in civil proceedings, from any part of the 

22 district in which the court ordinarily conducts busi23 ness or the district in which the court is holding a 

24 special session; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) in criminal trials, from any part of the 

2 district in which the crime has been committed and, 

3 if a defendant so consents, from any district in 

4 which the court is conducting business pursuant to 

5 this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(4) If a district court issues an order exercising its 

7 authority under paragraph (1), the court— 

8 ‘‘(A) through the Administrative Office of the 

9 United States Courts, shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) send notice of such order, including 

11 the reasons for the issuance of such order, to 

12 the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 

13 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

14 House of Representatives; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) not later than 180 days after the ex16 piration of such court order submit a brief re17 port to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

18 Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

19 the House of Representatives describing the im20 pact of such order, including— 

21 ‘‘(I) the reasons for the issuance of 

22 such order; 

23 ‘‘(II) the duration of such order; 

24 ‘‘(III) the impact of such order on liti25 gants; and 
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1 ‘‘(IV) the costs to the judiciary result2 ing from such order; and 

3 ‘‘(B) shall provide reasonable notice to the 

4 United States Marshals Service before the com5 mencement of any special session held pursuant to 

6 such order.’’. 

7 (c) BANKRUPTCY COURTS.—Section 152(c) of title 

8 28, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2)(A) Bankruptcy judges may hold court at 

12 such places within the United States outside the ju13 dicial district as the nature of the business of the 

14 court may require, and upon such notice as the 

15 court orders, upon a finding by either the chief 

16 judge of the bankruptcy court (or, if the chief judge 

17 is unavailable, the most senior available bankruptcy 

18 judge) or by the judicial council of the circuit that, 

19 because of emergency conditions, no location within 

20 the district is reasonably available where the bank21 ruptcy judges could hold court. 

22 ‘‘(B) Bankruptcy judges may transact any busi23 ness at special sessions of court held outside the dis24 trict pursuant to this paragraph that might be 

25 transacted at a regular session. 
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1 ‘‘(C) If a bankruptcy court issues an order ex2 ercising its authority under subparagraph (A), the 

3 court— 

4 ‘‘(i) through the Administrative Office of 

5 the United States Courts, shall— 

6 ‘‘(I) send notice of such order, includ7 ing the reasons for the issuance of such 

8 order, to the Committee on the Judiciary 

9 of the Senate and the Committee on the 

10 Judiciary of the House of Representatives; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(II) not later than 180 days after 

13 the expiration of such court order submit 

14 a brief report to the Committee on the Ju15 diciary of the Senate and the Committee 

16 on the Judiciary of the House of Rep17 resentatives describing the impact of such 

18 order, including— 

19 ‘‘(aa) the reasons for the 

20 issuance of such order; 

21 ‘‘(bb) the duration of such order; 

22 ‘‘(cc) the impact of such order on 

23 litigants; and 

24 ‘‘(dd) the costs to the judiciary 

25 resulting from such order; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) shall provide reasonable notice to the 

2 United States Marshals Service before the com3 mencement of any special session held pursuant 

4 to such order.’’. 

5 (d) UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGES.—Section 

6 636 of title 28, United States Code, is amended in sub7 section (a) by striking ‘‘territorial jurisdiction prescribed 

8 by his appointment—’’ and inserting ‘‘district in which 

9 sessions are held by the court that appointed the mag10 istrate judge, at other places where that court may func11 tion, and elsewhere as authorized by law—’’. 

Æ