105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2294
AN ACT
To make improvements in the operation and admin-
istration of the Federal courts, and for other
purposes.
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2294
AN ACT
To make improvements in the operation and administration
of the Federal courts, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1998.’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
TITLE I—JUDICIAL FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Sec. 101. Reimbursement of judiciary for civil and criminal forfeiture expenses.
Sec. 102. Transfer of retirement funds.
Sec. 103. Extension of Judiciary Information Technology Fund.
Sec. 104. Bankruptcy fees.
Sec. 105. Disposition of miscellaneous fees.
TITLE II—JUDICIAL PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
Sec. 201. Extension of statutory authority for magistrate judge positions to be
established in the district courts of Guam and the Northern
Mariana Islands.
Sec. 202. Magistrate judge contempt authority.
Sec. 203. Consent to magistrate judge authority in petty offense cases and
magistrate judge authority in misdemeanor cases involving
juvenile defendants.
Sec. 204. Savings and loan data reporting requirements.
Sec. 205. Place of holding court in the Eastern District of Texas.
Sec. 206. Federal substance abuse treatment program reauthorization.
Sec. 207. Membership in circuit judicial councils.
Sec. 208. Sunset of civil justice expense and delay reduction plans.
Sec. 209. Repeal of Court of Federal Claims filing fee.
Sec. 210. Technical bankruptcy correction.
Sec. 211. Technical amendment relating to the treatment of certain bankruptcy
fees collected.
TITLE III—JUDICIAL PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION, BENEFITS,
AND PROTECTIONS
Sec. 301. Disability retirement and cost-of-living adjustments of annuities for
territorial judges.
Sec. 302. Federal Judicial Center personnel matters.
Sec. 303. Judicial administrative officials retirement matters.
Sec. 304. Judges’ firearms training.
Sec. 305. Exemption from jury service.
Sec. 306. Expanded workers’ compensation coverage for jurors.
Sec. 307. Property damage, theft, and loss claims of jurors.
Sec. 308. Annual leave limit for court unit executives.
Sec. 309. Transfer of county to Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Sec. 310. Creation of two divisions in Eastern District of Louisiana.
Sec. 311. District judges for the Florida district courts.
Sec. 312. Change in composition of divisions in Western District of Tennessee.
Sec. 313. Payments to military survivors benefits plan.
Sec. 314. Creation of certifying officers in the judicial branch.
Sec. 315. Authority to prescribe fees for technology resources in the courts.
TITLE IV—CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT AMENDMENTS
Sec. 401. Maximum amounts of compensation for attorneys.
Sec. 402. Maximum amounts of compensation for services other than counsel.
Sec. 403. Tort Claims Act amendment relating to liability of Federal public
defenders.
TITLE I—JUDICIAL FINANCIAL
ADMINISTRATION
SEC. 101. REIMBURSEMENT OF JUDICIARY FOR CIVIL AND
CRIMINAL FORFEITURE EXPENSES.
(a) TRANSFERS FROM JUSTICE AND TREASURY FOR-
FEITURE FUNDS.—Section 524(c) of title 28, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) by inserting after paragraph (11) the
following paragraph (12):
‘‘(12)(A) In the fiscal year following the fiscal year
in which this paragraph is enacted and in each fiscal year
thereafter, an amount as specified in subparagraph (B)
shall be transferred annually to the judiciary into the fund
established under section 1931 of this title, for expenses
incurred in—
‘‘(i) adjudication of civil and criminal forfeiture
proceedings that result in deposits into the Fund
(except the expense of salaries of judges);
‘‘(ii) representation, pursuant to the provisions
of section 3006A of title 18 or section 408(q) of the
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 848(q)) of of-
fenders whose assets have been seized in such for-
feiture proceedings, to the extent that such expenses
of representation could have been recovered through
an order for payment or for reimbursement of ap-
propriations for defender services pursuant to sec-
tion 3006A(f) of title 18; and
‘‘(iii) supervision by United States probation of-
ficers of offenders under home detention or other
forms of confinement outside of facilities of the Bu-
reau of Prisons.
‘‘(B) The amount to be transferred under subpara-
graph (A)—
‘‘(i) shall be a portion of the amount of the
combined fiscal year deposits into both the Fund
and the Department of the Treasury Forfeiture
Fund established by section 9703 of title 31 (herein-
after referred to in this paragraph as ‘both Funds’),
which shall not exceed the statement of costs in-
curred by the judiciary in providing the services
identified in subparagraph (A), as set forth by the
Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts in a report to the Attorney General
and the Secretary of the Treasury no later than 90
days after the end of the fiscal year in which the ex-
penses were incurred, except that—
‘‘(I) the total amount to be transferred
from both Funds shall not exceed $50,000,000,
or 10 percent of the total combined deposits
into both Funds, whichever is less;
‘‘(II) the proportion of the amount trans-
ferred from the Fund to the total amount to be
transferred shall be equal to the proportion of
the fiscal year deposits into the Fund to the
combined fiscal year deposits in both Funds;
and
‘‘(III) the total amount to be transferred
from both Funds may exceed the limits set out
in this subparagraph, subject to the discretion
of the Attorney General and the Secretary of
the Treasury; and
‘‘(ii) shall be paid from revenues deposited into
the Fund during the fiscal year in which the ex-
penses were incurred and are not required to be
specified in appropriations Acts.’’.
(b) TREASURY FORFEITURE FUND.—Section 9703
of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (p) as sub-
section (q); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (o) the follow-
ing new subsection:
‘‘(p) TRANSFER TO THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY.—In
the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which this sub-
section is enacted and in each fiscal year thereafter, an
amount necessary to meet the requirements of section
524(c)(12) of title 28 shall be transferred to the judiciary,
subject to the limitations, terms, and conditions specified
in that section for such transfers.’’.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1931(a) of
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or
other judicial services, including services provided pursu-
ant to section 3006A of title 18 or section 408(q) of the
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 848(q))’’ after
‘‘courts of the United States’’.
SEC. 102. TRANSFER OF RETIREMENT FUNDS.
Section 377 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end thereof the following new
subsection:
‘‘(p) Upon election by a bankruptcy judge or a mag-
istrate judge under subsection (f) of this section, all of
the accrued employer contributions and accrued interest
on those contributions made on behalf of the bankruptcy
judge or magistrate judge to the Civil Service Retirement
and Disability Fund, as defined under section 8348 of title
5, shall be transferred to the fund established under sec-
tion 1931 of this title, except that if the bankruptcy judge
or magistrate judge elects under section 2(c) of the Retire-
ment and Survivors’ Annuities for Bankruptcy Judges and
Magistrates Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–659), to receive
a retirement annuity under both this section and title 5,
only the accrued employer contributions and accrued in-
terest on such contributions made on behalf of the bank-
ruptcy judge or magistrate judge for service credited
under this section may be transferred.’’.
SEC. 103. EXTENSION OF JUDICIARY INFORMATION TECH-
NOLOGY FUND.
Section 612 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘equipment’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘resources’’;
(2) by striking subsection (f) and redesignating
subsequent subsections accordingly;
(3) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, by
striking paragraph (3); and
(4) in subsection (i), as so redesignated—
(A) by striking ‘‘Judiciary’’ each place it
appears and inserting ‘‘judiciary’’;
(B) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (c)(1)(B)’’
and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)(B)’’; and
(C) by striking ‘‘under (c)(1)(B)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘under subsection (c)(1)(B)’’.
SEC. 104. BANKRUPTCY FEES.
Subsection (a) of section 1930 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new paragraph:
‘‘(7) In districts that are not part of a United
States trustee region as defined in section 581 of
this title, the Judicial Conference of the United
States may require the debtor in a case under chap-
ter 11 of title 11 to pay fees equal to those imposed
by paragraph (6) of this subsection. Such fees shall
be deposited as offsetting receipts to the fund estab-
lished under section 1931 of this title and shall re-
main available until expended.’’.
SEC. 105. DISPOSITION OF MISCELLANEOUS FEES.
For fiscal year 1999 and thereafter, any portion of
miscellaneous fees collected as prescribed by the Judicial
Conference of the United States pursuant to sections
1913, 1914(b), 1926(a), 1930(b), and 1932 of title 28,
United States Code, exceeding the amount of such fees
in effect on September 30, 1998, shall be deposited into
the special fund of the Treasury established under section
1931 of title 28, United States Code.
‘‘(A) a 1-year period following such jus-
tice’s or judge’s retirement; or
‘‘(B) a longer period of time if approved by
the Judicial Conference of the United States
when exceptional circumstances warrant;
‘‘(3) a United States bankruptcy judge;
‘‘(4) a full-time or part-time United States
magistrate judge;
‘‘(5) a judge of the United States Court of Fed-
eral Claims;
‘‘(6) a judge of the District Court of Guam;
‘‘(7) a judge of the District Court for the
Northern Mariana Islands;
‘‘(8) a judge of the District Court of the Virgin
Islands; or
‘‘(9) an individual who is retired from one of
the judicial positions described under paragraphs (3)
through (8) to the extent provided for in regulations
of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
‘‘(d) 
EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding 
section
46303(c)(1) of title 49, nothing in this section authorizes
a judicial officer of the United States to carry a dangerous
weapon on an aircraft or other common carrier.’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—
The table of sections for chapter 21 of title 28, United