| June 4, 1790 1 Stat. 126 | Congress organized North Carolina as one judicial district, authorized one judgeship for the U.S. district court, and assigned the district to the Southern Circuit. |
| June 9, 1794 1 Stat. 395 | North Carolina divided into three judicial districts, the Edenton, the New Bern, and the Wilmington, with one judgeship authorized to serve all three districts. |
| March 3, 1797 1 Stat. 517 | Repeal of the Act of June 9, 1794, restored North Carolina as a single judicial district. |
| February 13, 1801 2 Stat. 89 | Judiciary Act of 1801 reorganized the federal courts into six circuits and assigned the District of North Carolina to the Fifth Circuit. The act divided North Carolina into three judicial districts, the Albemarle, the Cape Fear, and the Pamptico, with one judgeship authorized to serve all three districts. |
| April 29, 1802 2 Stat. 156 | After repealing the Judiciary Act of 1801, Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1802 again organized the federal courts into six circuits and assigned the District of North Carolina to the Fifth Circuit. The act again divided North Carolina into three judicial districts, the Albemarle, the Cape Fear, and the Pamptico, with one judgeship authorized to serve all three districts. |
| August 16, 1842 5 Stat. 507 | Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned the District of North Carolina to the Sixth Circuit. |
| July 15, 1862 12 Stat. 576 | Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned the District of North Carolina to the Fourth Circuit. |
| June 4, 1872 17 Stat. 215 | North Carolina divided into two judicial districts, the Eastern and the Western, with one judgeship authorized for each district. The sitting judge was assigned to the Eastern District. |
| March 2, 1927 44 Stat. 1339 | The act established the Middle District of North Carolina and authorized one judgeship for the district court. |
| May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 | One additional judgeship authorized for each district. |
| June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294 | One temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. This position was never made permanent. |
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 | One additional judgeship authorized for each district. |
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333 | One temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern District. |
| December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 | One additional judgeship authorized for the Middle District, and the temporary judgeship authorized for the Eastern District in 1984 was made permanent. |
| November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758 | One additional judgeship and one temporary judgeship authorized for the Western District. (Temporary judgeship extended by 128 Stat. 2352 and 129 Stat. 2443.) |
Authorized Judgeships
North Carolina District | Edenton District | New Bern District | Wilmington District | Total Judgeships | |
1790 | 1 | 1 | |||
1794 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
1797 | 1 | 1 |
Albemarle District | Cape Fear District | Pamptico District | Total Judgeships | |
1801 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Eastern District | Western District | Middle District | Total Judgeships | |
1872 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
1919 | 1 | 2* |  | 3 |
1927 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
1935 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
1961 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
1970 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
1975 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
1978 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
1984 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
1990 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
2002 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
*Temporary judgeship authorized by 40 Stat. 1156, which provided for the appointment of an additional judge when a sitting judge was certified as disabled.