I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4967 

To prevent the termination of the temporary office of bankruptcy judges 

in certain judicial districts. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 27, 2012 

Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COBLE, and Mr. CONYERS) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prevent the termination of the temporary office of 

bankruptcy judges in certain judicial districts. 

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 ‘‘Temporary Bank5 ruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY OFFICE OF BANK7 RUPTCY JUDGES IN CERTAIN JUDICIAL DIS8 TRICTS. 

9 (a) TEMPORARY OFFICE OF BANKRUPTCY JUDGES

10 AUTHORIZED BY PUBLIC LAW 109–8.— 


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1 (1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of 

2 bankruptcy judges authorized for the following dis3 tricts by section 1223(b) of Public Law 109–8 (28 

4 U.S.C. 152 note) are extended until the applicable 

5 vacancy specified in paragraph (2) in the office of a 

6 bankruptcy judge for the respective district occurs: 

7 (A) The central district of California. 

8 (B) The eastern district of California. 

9 (C) The district of Delaware. 

10 (D) The southern district of Florida. 

11 (E) The southern district of Georgia. 

12 (F) The district of Maryland. 

13 (G) The eastern district of Michigan. 

14 (H) The district of New Jersey. 

15 (I) The northern district of New York. 

16 (J) The eastern district of North Carolina. 

17 (K) The eastern district of Pennsylvania. 

18 (L) The middle district of Pennsylvania. 

19 (M) The district of Puerto Rico. 

20 (N) The district of South Carolina. 

21 (O) The western district of Tennessee. 

22 (P) The eastern district of Virginia. 

23 (Q) The district of Nevada. 

24 (2) VACANCIES.— 


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1 (A) SINGLE VACANCIES.—Except as pro2 vided in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), and (E), 

3 the 1st vacancy in the office of a bankruptcy 

4 judge for each district specified in paragraph 

5 (1)— 

6 (i) occurring more than 5 years after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

8 (ii) resulting from the death, retire9 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank10 ruptcy judge, 

11 shall not be filled. 

12 (B) CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA.— 

13 The 1st, 2d, and 3d vacancies in the office of 

14 a bankruptcy judge for the central district of 

15 California— 

16 (i) occurring 5 years or more after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, and 

18 (ii) resulting from the death, retire19 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank20 ruptcy judge, 

21 shall not be filled. 

22 (C) DISTRICT OF DELAWARE.—The 1st, 

23 2d, 3d, and 4th vacancies in the office of a 

24 bankruptcy judge for the district of Delaware— 


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1 (i) occurring more than 5 years after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

3 (ii) resulting from the death, retire4 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank5 ruptcy judge, 

6 shall not be filled. 

7 (D) SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA.— 

8 The 1st and 2d vacancies in the office of a 

9 bankruptcy judge for the southern district of 

10 Florida— 

11 (i) occurring more than 5 years after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

13 (ii) resulting from the death, retire14 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank15 ruptcy judge, 

16 shall not be filled. 

17 (E) DISTRICT OF MARYLAND.—The 1st, 

18 2d, and 3d vacancies in the office of a bank19 ruptcy judge for the district of Maryland— 

20 (i) occurring more than 5 years after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

22 (ii) resulting from the death, retire23 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank24 ruptcy judge, 

25 shall not be filled. 


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1 (3) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.— 

2 Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), all 

3 other provisions of section 1223(b) of Public Law 

4 109–8 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) remain applicable to the 

5 temporary office of bankruptcy judges referred to in 

6 paragraph (1). 

7 (b) TEMPORARY OFFICE OF BANKRUPTCY JUDGES

8 EXTENDED BY PUBLIC LAW 109–8.— 

9 (1) EXTENSIONS.—The temporary office of 

10 bankruptcy judges authorized by section 3 of the 

11 Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152 

12 note) and extended by section 1223(c) of Public Law 

13 109–8 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) for the district of Dela14 ware, the district of Puerto Rico, and the eastern 

15 district of Tennessee are extended until the applica16 ble vacancy specified in paragraph (2) in the office 

17 of a bankruptcy judge for the respective district oc18 curs. 

19 (2) VACANCIES.— 

20 (A) DISTRICT OF DELAWARE.—The 5th 

21 vacancy in the office of a bankruptcy judge for 

22 the district of Delaware— 

23 (i) occurring more than 5 years after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 


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1 (ii) resulting from the death, retire2 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank3 ruptcy judge, 

4 shall not be filled. 

5 (B) DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO.—The 2d 

6 vacancy in the office of a bankruptcy judge for 

7 the district of Puerto Rico— 

8 (i) occurring more than 5 years after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

10 (ii) resulting from the death, retire11 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank12 ruptcy judge, 

13 shall not be filled. 

14 (C) EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE.— 

15 The 1st vacancy in the office of a bankruptcy 

16 judge for the eastern district of Tennessee— 

17 (i) occurring more than 5 years after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

19 (ii) resulting from the death, retire20 ment, resignation, or removal of a bank21 ruptcy judge, 

22 shall not be filled. 

23 (3) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.— 

24 Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), all 

25 other provisions of section 3 of the Bankruptcy 


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1 Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) and 

2 section 1223(c) of Public Law 109–8 (28 U.S.C. 

3 152 note) remain applicable to the temporary office 

4 of bankruptcy judges referred to in paragraph (1). 

5 (c) TEMPORARY OFFICE OF THE BANKRUPTCY

6 JUDGE AUTHORIZED BY PUBLIC LAW 102–361 FOR THE

7 MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA.— 

8 (1) EXTENSION.—The temporary office of the 

9 bankruptcy judge authorized by section 3 of the 

10 Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152 

11 note) for the middle district of North Carolina is ex12 tended until the vacancy specified in paragraph (2) 

13 occurs. 

14 (2) VACANCY.—The 1st vacancy in the office of 

15 a bankruptcy judge for the middle district of North 

16 Carolina— 

17 (A) occurring more than 5 years after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, and 

19 (B) resulting from the death, retirement, 

20 resignation, or removal of a bankruptcy judge, 

21 shall not be filled. 

22 (3) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.— 

23 Except as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), all 

24 other provisions of section 3 of the Bankruptcy 

25 Judgeship Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 152 note) remain 


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1 applicable to the temporary office of the bankruptcy 

2 judge referred to in paragraph (1). 

3 SEC. 3. BANKRUPTCY FILING FEE INCREASE. 

4 (a) BANKRUPTCY FILING FEES.—Section 1930(a)(3) 

5 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by striking 

6 ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,167’’. 

7 (b) UNITED STATES TRUSTEE SYSTEM FUND.—Sec8 tion 589a(b)(2) of title 28, United States Code, is amend9 ed by striking ‘‘55’’ and inserting ‘‘48.89’’. 

10 (c) COLLECTION AND DEPOSIT OF MISCELLANEOUS

11 BANKRUPTCY FEES.—Section 406(b) of the Judiciary Ap12 propriations Act, 1990 (28 U.S.C. 1931 note) is amended 

13 by striking ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘33.33’’. 

14 (d) PAYGO OFFSET EXPENDITURE LIMITATION.— 

15 $42 of the incremental amounts collected by reason of the 

16 enactment of subsection (a) shall be deposited in a special 

17 fund in the Treasury to be established after the date of 

18 enactment of this Act. Such amounts shall be available 

19 for the purposes specified in section 1931(a) of title 28, 

20 United States Code, but only to the extent specifically ap21 propriated by an Act of Congress enacted after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act. 

23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend24 ments made by this section shall take effect 180 days after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. SUBSEQUENT REAUTHORIZATION. 

2 Prior to further reauthorization of any judgeship au3 thorized by this Act, the Committee on the Judiciary of 

4 the Senate and House of Representatives shall conduct a 

5 review of the bankruptcy judgeships authorized by this Act 

6 to determine the need, if any, for continued reauthoriza7 tion of each judgeship, to evaluate any changes in all 

8 bankruptcy case filings and their effect, if any, on filing 

9 fee revenue, and to require the Administrative Office of 

10 the Courts to submit a report to the Committee on the 

11 Judiciary of the Senate and House of Representatives on 

12 bankruptcy case workload, bankruptcy judgeship costs, 

13 and filing fee revenue. 

Æ 


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