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The federal courts, coping with caseloads that "increased fairly relentlessly" over the last 15 years, need 68 new judgeships so they can continue serving justice properly, a federal judge has told Congress.

U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson of San Antonio, speaking for the policy-making Judicial Conference of the United States, told the Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts that 12 additional court of appeals judgeships and 56 additional district court judgeships are needed.

The requested 12 court of appeals judgeships include nine permanent and three temporary positions. The requested 56 district court judgeships include 44 permanent and 12 temporary positions.

The Judicial Conference first proposed creating the new judgeships in March 2005. No new court of appeals judgeship has been created since 1990. Those courts' caseloads have grown 58 percent since then. District court caseloads since 1990 have risen 40 percent – 75 percent in criminal felony cases and 34 percent in civil filings. In that 15-year period, Congress created 34 additional district judgeships in response to particular emergencies in particular districts.

"Since the last comprehensive judgeship bill was enacted (in 1990), workload has increased fairly relentlessly," Judge Furgeson told the subcommittee.

"Were it not for the assistance provided by senior judges and visiting judges, the courts of appeals would not have been able to keep pace, particularly in light of the number and length of vacancies," Judge Furgeson added in submitted written comments.

"The Conference does not recommend or wish indefinite growth in the number of judges," he wrote. "However, as long as federal court jurisdiction continues to expand, there must be a sufficient number of judges to properly serve litigants and justice. The Conference is perennially attempting to balance the need to control growth and the need to seek resources that are appropriate to the workload. In an effort to implement that policy, we have requested far fewer judgeships than the caseload increases would suggest are now required."