Circuit History

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - Legislative History

March 3, 1891 26 Stat. 826	Congress established U.S. circuit courts of appeals for each of the nine judicial circuits and assigned the sitting judge of the U.S. Circuit Courts for the Fifth Circuit to sit also on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, effective June 16, 1891. The act also authorized an additional judgeship for the Fifth Circuit’s new court.
January 25, 1899 30 Stat. 803	One additional judgeship authorized for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
August 24, 1912 37 Stat. 560	Congress provided for appeals from the District Court of the Canal Zone to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
June 10, 1930 46 Stat. 538	One additional judgeship authorized for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
May 31, 1938 52 Stat. 584	One additional judgeship authorized for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
December 14, 1942 56 Stat. 1050	One additional judgeship authorized for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
February 10, 1954 68 Stat. 8	One additional judgeship authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80	Two additional judgeships authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75	Four temporary judgeships authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
June 18, 1968 82 Stat. 184	The four temporary judgeships authorized by the act of March 18, 1966, 80 Stat. 75, made permanent and two additional judgeships authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629	Eleven additional judgeships authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
October 14, 1980 94 Stat. 1994	The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Reorganization Act divided the Fifth Circuit into two circuits, reorganizing the judicial districts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and the Canal Zone as a new Fifth Circuit and Alabama, Georgia, and Florida as the Eleventh Circuit. The act transferred all judges whose official duty stations were located within the Eleventh Circuit to the court of appeals for that circuit. Of the twenty-six judgeships authorized for the former Fifth Circuit, fourteen were assigned to the new Fifth Circuit and twelve to the Eleventh Circuit.
September 27, 1979 93 Stat. 455	The Fifth Circuit’s appellate jurisdiction over the Canal Zone terminated when Congress abolished the U.S. District Court for the Canal Zone, effective March 31, 1982.
July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333	Two additional judgeships authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089	One additional judgeship authorized for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Authorized Judgeship
1891 2

       1899        3
       1930        4
       1938        5
       1942        6
       1954        7
       1961        9
       1966       13
       1968       15
       1978       26
       1980       14
       1984       16
       1990       17