| April 21, 1820 3 Stat. 564 | Congress organized Alabama as one judicial district and authorized one judgeship for the U.S. district court. The district court in Alabama, not being assigned to a judicial circuit, was granted the same jurisdiction as U.S. circuit courts, except in appeals and writs of error, which were the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. |
| March 10, 1824 4 Stat. 9 | Alabama divided into the Northern and the Southern districts, with one judgeship serving both districts. |
| March 3, 1837 5 Stat. 176 | The act repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the Alabama district courts, established U.S. circuit courts in the districts, and assigned Alabama to the Ninth Circuit. |
| February 22, 1838 5 Stat. 210 | The act abolished the U.S. circuit court for the Northern District and granted the district court for the Northern District the same jurisdiction as U.S. circuit courts, except in appeals and writs of error, which were the jurisdiction of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of Alabama. |
| February 6, 1839 5 Stat. 315 | Act established Middle District, and provided for the existing judgeship to serve all three districts. The U.S. district court for the Middle District granted the same jurisdiction as U.S. circuit courts, except in appeals and writs of error, which were the jurisdiction of the U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District of Alabama. |
| August 4, 1842 5 Stat. 504 | Act provided that appeals and writs of error from the district court for the Northern District would be directly to the Supreme Court when amount in controversy exceeded $2000. |
| August 16, 1842 5 Stat. 507 | Congress assigned Alabama to the Fifth Circuit. |
| March 3, 1873 17 Stat. 484 | The act repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the district courts for the Northern District and the Middle District and provided for the transfer of qualified cases to the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Alabama, in Mobile. |
| June 22, 1874 18 Stat. 195 | Act established U.S. circuit courts for the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama |
| August 2, 1886 24 Stat. 213 | Judgeship authorized for the Southern District; existing judgeship assigned to the Northern and Middle Districts. |
| February 25, 1907 34 Stat. 931 | One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District. |
| June 5, 1936 49 Stat. 1476 | Existing judgeship serving the Northern and Middle Districts reassigned to serve only the Middle District. |
| March 26, 1938 52 Stat. 120 | One temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District. This position was never made permanent. |
| December 24, 1942 56 Stat. 1092 | One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District. |
| May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 | One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District. |
| March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75 | One additional judgeship authorized to serve both the Middle and Southern Districts. |
| June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294 | One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District, and one additional judgeship authorized for the Middle District. Existing judgeship serving the Middle and Southern Districts assigned to the Southern District only. |
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 | Three additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District and one additional judgeship authorized for the Middle District. |
| October 14, 1980 94 Stat. 1994 | Congress assigned Alabama to the Eleventh Circuit. |
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333 | One additional judgeship authorized for the Southern District. |
| December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 | One temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District. (Statute revised by 109 Stat. 635.) Position never made permanent. |
| November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758 | One temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District. (Judgeship extended by 127 Stat. 418 and 128 Stat. 203.) |
Authorized Judgeships
Alabama District | Northern District | Southern District | Middle District | Total Judgeships | |
1820 | 1 | 1 | |||
1824 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
1839 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
1886 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
1907 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
1936 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
1938 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
1938 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
1942 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
1961 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
1966 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
1970 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
1978 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 | |
1984 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 | |
1990 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 14 | |
1996 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 | |
2002 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 14 |