I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 320 

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 two judicial circuits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2021 

Mr. SIMPSON (for himself and Mr. FULCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was 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 two judicial 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 Court 

5 of Appeals Judgeship and Reorganization Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘former ninth circuit’’ means the 

2 ninth judicial circuit of the United States as in ex3 istence on the day before the effective date of this 

4 Act; 

5 (2) the term ‘‘new ninth circuit’’ means the 

6 ninth judicial circuit of the United States established 

7 by the amendment made by section 3(2)(A); and 

8 (3) the term ‘‘twelfth circuit’’ means the twelfth 

9 judicial circuit of the United States established by 

10 the amendment made by section 3(2)(B). 

11 SEC. 3. NUMBER AND COMPOSITION OF CIRCUITS. 

12 Section 41 of title 28, United States Code, is amend13 ed— 

14 (1) in the matter preceding the table, by strik15 ing ‘‘thirteen’’ and inserting ‘‘fourteen’’; and 

16 (2) in the table— 

17 (A) by striking the item relating to the 

18 ninth circuit and inserting the following: 

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

Mariana Islands.’’; 

19 and 

20 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

21 the eleventh circuit the following: 

‘‘Twelfth ............................................... Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. JUDGESHIPS. 

23 (a) NEW JUDGESHIPS.— 


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1 (1) FOR FORMER NINTH CIRCUIT.—The Presi2 dent shall appoint, by and with the advice and con3 sent of the Senate, 2 additional circuit judges for 

4 the former ninth circuit. The official duty station of 

5 a judge appointed under this paragraph shall be in 

6 Arizona, California, or Nevada. 

7 (2) FOR NEW NINTH CIRCUIT.—The President 

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

9 the Senate, 3 circuit judges for the new ninth cir10 cuit. The judges authorized by this paragraph shall 

11 not be appointed before January 21, 2021. 

12 (b) TEMPORARY JUDGESHIPS.— 

13 (1) APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES.—The President 

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

15 the Senate, 2 additional circuit judges for the former 

16 ninth circuit. The official duty station of a judge ap17 pointed under this paragraph shall be in Arizona, 

18 California, or Nevada. 

19 (2) EFFECT OF VACANCIES.—The first 2 vacan20 cies occurring on the new ninth circuit 10 years or 

21 more after judges are first confirmed to fill both 

22 temporary circuit judgeships created by this sub23 section shall not be filled. 

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

25 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. NUMBER OF CIRCUIT JUDGES. 

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

3 United States Code, is amended— 

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

5 circuit and inserting the following: 

‘‘Ninth ............................................................................................ 25’’; 

6 and 

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

8 eleventh circuit the following: 

‘‘Twelfth ......................................................................................... 9’’. 

9 SEC. 6. PLACES OF CIRCUIT COURT. 

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

11 United States Code, is amended— 

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

13 circuit and inserting the following: 

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

14 and 

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

16 eleventh circuit the following: 

‘‘Twelfth ............................................... Phoenix, Seattle.’’. 

17 SEC. 7. ASSIGNMENT OF CIRCUIT JUDGES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

19 (b), each circuit judge of the former ninth circuit who is 

20 in regular active service and whose official duty station 

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


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

2 Northern Mariana Islands shall be a circuit judge of 

3 the new ninth circuit as of such effective date; and 

4 (2) is in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Ne5 vada, Oregon, or Washington shall be a circuit judge 

6 of the twelfth circuit as of such effective date. 

7 (b) SPECIAL RULE TO ENSURE STATUTORY DIS8 TRIBUTION OF JUDGES.—If the assignment of judges 

9 under subsection (a) would result in a number of judges 

10 in either the new ninth circuit or the twelfth circuit that 

11 exceeds the number provided for that circuit in the table 

12 contained in section 44(a) of title 28, United States Code, 

13 as amended by section 5 of this Act, then a number of 

14 judges accounting for such excess who are the least senior 

15 in commission shall be assigned to the other circuit. 

16 SEC. 8. ELECTION OF ASSIGNMENT BY SENIOR JUDGES. 

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

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

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

20 to the twelfth circuit as of such effective date, and shall 

21 notify the Director of the Administrative Office of the 

22 United States Courts of such election. 

23 SEC. 9. SENIORITY OF JUDGES. 

24 The seniority of each judge— 

25 (1) who is assigned under section 7, or 


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1 (2) who elects to be assigned under section 8, 

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

3 a judge of the former ninth circuit. 

4 SEC. 10. APPLICATION TO CASES. 

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

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

7 proceeding has been filed with the former ninth circuit: 

8 (1) If the matter has been submitted for deci9 sion, further proceedings with respect to the matter 

10 shall be had in the same manner and with the same 

11 effect as if this Act had not been enacted. 

12 (2) If the matter has not been submitted for de13 cision, the appeal or proceeding, together with the 

14 original papers, printed records, and record entries 

15 duly certified, shall, by appropriate orders, be trans16 ferred to the court to which the matter would have 

17 been submitted had this Act been in full force and 

18 effect at the time such appeal was taken or other 

19 proceeding commenced, and further proceedings with 

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

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

22 proceeding had been filed in such court. 

23 (3) A petition for rehearing or a petition for re24 hearing en banc in a matter decided before the effec25 tive date of this Act, or submitted before the effecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H320.IH H320

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1 tive date of this Act and decided on or after such 

2 effective date as provided in paragraph (1), shall be 

3 treated in the same manner and with the same effect 

4 as though this Act had not been enacted. If a peti5 tion for rehearing en banc is granted, the matter 

6 shall be reheard by a court comprised as though this 

7 Act had not been enacted. 

8 SEC. 11. TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT OF CIRCUIT JUDGES 

9 BETWEEN CIRCUITS. 

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

11 amended by adding at the end the following new sub12 sections: 

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

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

15 Twelfth Circuit, designate and assign temporarily any cir16 cuit judge of the Ninth Circuit to act as circuit judge in 

17 the Twelfth Circuit. 

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

19 the public interest and upon request by the chief judge 

20 of the Ninth Circuit, designate and assign temporarily any 

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

22 in the Ninth Circuit.’’. 


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1 SEC. 12. TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT OF DISTRICT JUDGES 

2 BETWEEN CIRCUITS. 

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

4 amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 sections: 

6 ‘‘(f) The chief judge of the Ninth Circuit may in the 

7 public interest— 

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

9 Twelfth Circuit, designate and assign one or more 

10 district judges within the Ninth Circuit to sit upon 

11 the Court of Appeals of the Twelfth Circuit or a di12 vision thereof whenever the business of that court so 

13 requires; and 

14 ‘‘(2) designate and assign temporarily any dis15 trict judge of the Ninth Circuit to hold a district 

16 court in any district within the Twelfth Circuit. 

17 ‘‘(g) The chief judge of the Twelfth Circuit may in 

18 the public interest— 

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

20 Ninth Circuit, designate and assign one or more dis21 trict judges within the Twelfth Circuit to sit upon 

22 the Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit or a divi23 sion thereof whenever the business of that court so 

24 requires; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) designate and assign temporarily any dis2 trict judge of the Twelfth Circuit to hold a district 

3 court in any district within the Ninth Circuit. 

4 ‘‘(h) Any designation and assignment of a judge 

5 under subsection (f)(1) or (g)(1) shall be in conformity 

6 with the rules or orders of the court of appeals of the cir7 cuit to which the judge is designated and assigned.’’. 

8 SEC. 13. ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATION. 

9 Section 332 of title 28, United States Code, is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following new sub11 section: 

12 ‘‘(i) Any 2 contiguous circuits may jointly carry out 

13 such administrative functions and activities as the judicial 

14 councils of the 2 circuits determine may benefit from co15 ordination or consolidation.’’. 

16 SEC. 14. ADMINISTRATION. 

17 The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth 

18 Circuit as constituted on the day before the effective date 

19 of this Act may take such administrative action as may 

20 be required to carry out this Act and the amendments 

21 made by this Act. Such court shall cease to exist for ad22 ministrative purposes upon the expiration of the 2-year pe23 riod beginning on the effective date 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 on the first 

4 day of the first fiscal year that begins after the expiration 

5 of the 9-month period beginning on the first date on which 

6 5 of the judges authorized to be appointed under section 

7 4 have been confirmed by the United States Senate. 

8 SEC. 16. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

10 as may be necessary to carry out this Act, including funds 

11 for additional court facilities. 

Æ 


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