I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3835
To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey into 2 judicial
districts.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 6, 2000
Mr. ANDREWS (for himself, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. LOBIONDO, and Mr. SMITH of
New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to divide New Jersey
into 2 judicial districts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1978, the Judicial Conference of the
United States established a procedure for creating
new Federal judicial districts, which is still in force.
According to the ‘‘Proceedings of the Judicial Con-
ference, September 21–22, 1978’’, this procedure re-
quires that 4 principal criteria be taken into consid-
eration in evaluating the establishment of a new
Federal judicial district: caseload, judicial adminis-
tration, geography, and community convenience.
(2) The criterion of ‘‘caseload’’ is found to in-
clude the total number of Federal court cases and
the number of cases per Federal judge, for both civil
and criminal Federal cases.
(3)(A) The substantial criminal caseload con-
centrated in the southern counties of New Jersey re-
quires the creation of a separate judicial district.
(B) 281 Federal criminal cases originated in
the 8 southern New Jersey counties in 1998 and
were handled by the 5 judges of the Camden vici-
nage and the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
(C) The criminal caseload in the southern re-
gion of New Jersey exceeds that of 51 of the current
Federal judicial districts. Only 44 of the 95 Federal
district courts have more criminal cases filed than
the southern region of New Jersey.
(D) For example, in the Eastern District of
Virginia (9 judges), 110 criminal cases were filed in
1998. In the District of Connecticut (8 judges), only
221 criminal cases were filed in 1998.
(4)(A) The substantial civil caseload con-
centrated in the southern counties of New Jersey re-
quires the creation of a separate judicial district.
(B) 2,116 Federal civil cases originated in the
8 southern New Jersey counties in 1998 and were
handled by the 5 judges of the Camden vicinage and
the 3 judges of the Trenton vicinage.
(C) The civil caseload in the southern region of
New Jersey exceeds that of 52 of the current Fed-
eral judicial districts. Only 43 out of the 95 Federal
districts have more civil cases filed than this region
of the New Jersey District.
(D) For example, in the Southern District of
West Virginia, a separate judicial district with 5
judges, only 1,315 civil cases were filed in 1998. The
Western District of Tennessee, similarly, with 5
judges, had only 1,581 civil cases filed in 1998.
(5) The criterion of ‘‘judicial administration’’ is
found to include the backlog of pending cases in a
Federal judicial district, which hinders the effective
resolution of pending business before the court.
(6)(A) The size of the backlog of pending cases
concentrated in the southern counties of New Jersey
requires the creation of a separate judicial district.
(B) The number of pending cases in the Cam-
den vicinage of New Jersey exceeds the number of
cases pending before entire judicial districts with
similar numbers of judges, clearly indicating that
southern New Jersey merits a separate Federal judi-
cial district. For example, there are 1,431 civil cases
pending before the Camden vicinage, and only 113
of those were commenced in 1999. The Western Dis-
trict of Tennessee, with 5 judges, had only 1,104
civil cases pending in 1998. The Western District of
Oklahoma had only 1,359 civil cases pending in
1998 before 6 judges. Finally, there are 161 crimi-
nal cases pending before the Camden vicinage, while
the entire Southern District of Indiana, with 5
judges, had only 116 criminal cases pending in
1998.
(7) The criterion of ‘‘geography’’ is found to
mean the accessibility of the central administration
of the Federal judicial district to officers of the
court, parties with business before the court, and
other citizens living within the Federal judicial dis-
trict.
(8)(A) The distance between the northern and
southern regions of New Jersey creates a substantial
barrier to the efficient administration of justice.
(B) The distance from Newark, New Jersey to
Camden, New Jersey is more than 85 miles.
(C) When a new Federal court district was cre-
ated in Louisiana in 1971, the distance between
New Orleans and Baton Rouge (nearly 80 miles)
was cited as a major factor in creating a new district
court, as travel difficulties were impeding the timely
administration of justice.
(9) The criterion of ‘‘community convenience’’
is found to mean the extent to which creating a new
Federal judicial district will allow the court to better
serve the population and diverse communities of the
area.
(10)(A) New Jersey’s culturally and regionally
diverse population of 8,000,000 citizens, widely dis-
tributed across a large State, is inconvenienced by
having only 1 judicial district.
(B) Of the 25 States that have only a single
Federal judicial district (including Puerto Rico, the
United States territories, and the District of Colum-
bia), New Jersey has the highest population.
(C) More than a dozen States have smaller pop-
ulations than New Jersey, yet they have multiple
Federal judicial districts, including Washington,
Oklahoma, Iowa, Georgia, West Virginia, and Mis-
souri.
(11) In evaluating the creation of a new South-
ern District of New Jersey, the Judicial Conference
should seek the views of the chief judge of the af-
fected district, the judicial council for the affected
circuit court, and the affected United States Attor-
ney as representative of the views of the Department
of Justice, as required in the procedure established
by the ‘‘Proceedings of the Judicial Conference, Sep-
tember 21–22, 1978’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF 2 DISTRICTS IN NEW JERSEY.
(a) CREATION.—Section 110 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 110. New Jersey
‘‘New Jersey is divided into 2 judicial districts to be
known as the Northern and Southern Districts of New
Jersey.
‘‘Northern District
‘‘(a) The Northern District comprises the counties of
Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Mon-
mouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union,
and Warren.
‘‘Court for the Northern District shall be held at Newark.
‘‘Southern District
‘‘(b) The Southern District comprises the counties of
Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland,
Gloucester, Mercer, and Salem.
‘‘Court for the Southern District shall be held at Camden
and Trenton.’’.
(b) JUDGESHIPS.—The item relating to New Jersey
in the table set forth in section 133(a) of title 28, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘New Jersey:
‘‘Northern ..........................................................................................
‘‘Southern ...........................................................................................
8’’.
(c) BANKRUPTCY JUDGESHIPS.—The item relating to
New Jersey in the table set forth in section 152(a)(1) of
title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘New Jersey:
‘‘Northern ..........................................................................................
‘‘Southern ...........................................................................................
4’’.
SEC. 3. DISTRICT JUDGES, BANKRUPTCY JUDGES, MAG-
ISTRATE JUDGES, UNITED STATES ATTOR-
NEY, UNITED STATES MARSHAL, AND FED-
ERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER.
(a) TRANSFER OF DISTRICT JUDGES.—(1) Any dis-
trict judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is
holding office on the day before the effective date of this
Act and whose official duty station is in Bergen, Essex,
Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris,
Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, or Warren
County shall, on or after such effective date, be a district
judge for the Northern District of New Jersey. Any dis-
trict judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is
holding office on the day before the effective date of this
Act and whose official duty station is in Atlantic, Bur-
lington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester,
Mercer, or Salem County shall, on and after such effective
date, be a district judge of the Southern District of New
Jersey.
(2) Whenever a vacancy occurs in a judgeship in ei-
ther judicial district of New Jersey, the vacancy shall first
be offered to those judges appointed before the enactment
of this Act and in active service in the other judicial dis-
trict of New Jersey at the time of the vacancy, and of
those judges wishing to fill the vacancy, the judge most
senior in service shall fill that vacancy. In such a case,
the President shall appoint a judge to fill the vacancy re-
sulting in the district of New Jersey from which such
judge left office.
(b) TRANSFER OF BANKRUPTCY AND MAGISTRATE
JUDGES.—Any bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge of
the District Court of New Jersey who is holding office on
the day before the effective date of this Act and whose
official duty station is in Bergen, Essex, Hudson,
Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Pas-
saic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, or Warren County shall,
on or after such effective date, be a bankruptcy judge or
magistrate judge, as the case may be, for the Northern
District of New Jersey. Any bankruptcy judge or mag-
istrate judge of the District Court of New Jersey who is
holding office on the day before the effective date of this
Act and whose official duty station is in Atlantic, Bur-
lington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester,
Mercer, or Salem County shall, on and after such effective
date, be a bankruptcy judge or magistrate judge, as the
case may be, of the Southern District of New Jersey.
(c) UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, UNITED STATES
MARSHAL, AND FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER.—
(1) THOSE
IN
OFFICE.—This Act and the
amendments made by this Act shall not affect the
tenure of office of the United States attorney, the
United States marshal, and the Federal Public De-
fender, for the District of New Jersey who are in of-
fice on the effective date of this Act, except that
such individuals shall be the United States attorney,
the United States marshal, and the Federal Public
Defender, respectively, for the Northern District of
New Jersey as of such effective date.
(2) APPOINTMENTS.—The President shall ap-
point, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, a United States attorney and a United
States marshal for the Southern District of New
Jersey. The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
shall appoint a Federal Public Defender for the
Southern District of New Jersey.
(d) PENDING CASES NOT AFFECTED.—This Act and
the amendments made by this Act shall not affect any ac-
tion commenced before the effective date of this Act and
pending in the United States District Court for the Dis-
trict of New Jersey on such date.
(e) JURIES NOT AFFECTED.—This Act and the
amendments made by this Act shall not affect the com-
position, or preclude the service, of any grand or petit jury
summoned, empaneled, or actually serving in the Judicial
District of New Jersey on the effective date of this Act.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendments
made by this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(b) APPOINTMENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection
(a), the President and the Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit may make the appointments under section 3(c)(2)
at any time after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ