| March 3, 1819 3 Stat. 502 |
Congress organized Illinois as one judicial district and authorized one judgeship for the district court. The U.S. district court in Illinois, 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 3, 1837 5 Stat. 176 |
Congress repealed the circuit court jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the District of Illinois, established a U.S. circuit court in the district, and assigned the district to the Seventh Circuit. |
| February 13, 1855 10 Stat. 606 |
Illinois divided into two judicial districts, the Northern and the Southern, with one judgeship authorized for each district. The act assigned the judge for the District of Illinois to the Northern District. |
| July 15, 1862 12 Stat. 576 |
Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned the districts of Illinois to the Eighth Circuit. |
| July 23, 1866 14 Stat. 209 |
Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned the districts of Illinois to the Seventh Circuit. |
| March 3, 1905 33 Stat. 992 |
The act established the Eastern District of Illinois and authorized one judgeship for the district court. The act also authorized an additional judgeship for the Northern District. |
| September 14, 1922 42 Stat. 837 |
One temporary judgeship authorized for both the Northern and Eastern Districts. |
| May 29, 1928 45 Stat. 974 |
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1922 for the Northern District made permanent. |
| July 3, 1930 46 Stat. 1006 |
Temporary judgeship authorized in 1922 for the Eastern District made permanent. |
| February 20, 1931 46 Stat. 1196 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Southern District. |
| February 25, 1931 46 Stat. 1417 |
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District. |
| May 31, 1938 52 Stat. 584 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District. |
| May 24, 1940 54 Stat. 219 |
Temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District. |
| August 14, 1950 64 Stat. 443 |
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District. |
| May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 |
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District. |
| March 18, 1966 80 Stat. 75 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District. |
| June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294 |
Two additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District. |
| October 2, 1978 92 Stat. 883 |
Illinois reorganized into the Northern, Central, and Southern Districts effective March 31, 1979, with thirteen judgeships authorized for the Northern District, two for the Central District, and two for the Southern District. |
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 |
Three additional judgeships authorized for the Northern District and one for the Central District. |
| March 30, 1979 93 Stat. 6 |
Amended act of October 2, 1978, to authorize one additional judgeship for the Southern District. The act also authorized the transfer to the Southern District of one judgeship from the Eastern District and the transfer to the Central District of one judgeship from the Eastern District and two judgeships from the Southern District. When the act went into effect on March 31, 1979, there were sixteen judgeships in the Northern District, two in the Southern District, and three in the Central District. |
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333 |
Four additional permanent judgeships and one temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District and one additional permanent judgeship for the Southern District. |
| December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 |
One additional judgeship authorized for the Northern District, one temporary judgeship authorized for the Central District, one temporary judgeship authorized for the Southern District, and the temporary judgeship authorized for the Northern District in 1984 made permanent. (Statutory provisions authorizing temporary judgeships in the Central District and Southern District were revised by 109 Stat. 635 and the judgeships were extended by 111 Stat. 1173.) Under the terms of the act, a new judge is to be appointed to any court from which an active judge "assumes the duties of a full-time office of Federal judicial administration." If the judge assuming such a position returns as an active judge of the court, the first vacancy occurring thereafter will not be filled. This act thus provided for the appointment of another judge to the Northern District on December 5, 2022, when a sitting judge, Robert M. Dow, Jr., became counselor to the chief justice of the United States. |
| November 2, 2002 116 Stat. 1758 |
Temporary judgeships authorized in 1990 for the Central and Southern districts made permanent. |