House Approves Realignment of Judicial Districts in Arkansas

Oct 22, 2019
Uncategorized

House Approves Realignment of Judicial Districts in Arkansas

Written by: Erik De La Garza
Published by: Courthouse News Service

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to reduce the number of operating divisions in the Eastern District of Arkansas from five to three in a rare realignment of judicial lines, which was spurred by the 2017 closure of the only two federal courthouses in the two axed divisions.

Sponsored by Arkansas Republican Congressman Rick Crawford, the bill consolidates the operating divisions into the Central Division, Delta Division and Northern Division, with the federal courthouses for each located in Little Rock, Helena and Jonesboro, respectively.

Federal judicial divisions require an act of Congress to change, and are very rarely altered. Congress established Arkansas’ two judicial districts in 1851 – the Eastern and Western districts – to serve the state’s population in cases with federal jurisdiction, according to the Federal Judicial Center, a governmental research and education agency.

The Eastern District of Arkansas has not been restructured since 1961, when a division in Pine Bluff was authorized. The court currently includes divisions in Little Rock, Helena, Jonesboro, Batesville and Pine Bluff.

H.R. 1123, the Divisional Realignment for the Eastern District of Arkansas Act of 2019, aligns the three new divisions with the three remaining courthouses in Little Rock, Helena and Jonesboro, according to a statement from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler. 

The new divisional lines are based on caseload history and travel times to the remaining courthouses, the statement said.

The legislation was supported by the entire Arkansas House delegation, as well as the Judicial Conference, the Judicial Council of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit and Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr.

Recent Posts


Jul 1, 2024
Press

Rep. Crawford Statement on SCOTUS Decision in Trump v. United States

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov) Rep. Crawford Statement on SCOTUS Decision in Trump v. United States 7/1/2024 Washington, D.C. — Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States. “The SCOTUS decision today confirms that a President is immune from criminal prosecution for official acts within his […]



Jun 27, 2024
Economy

Steel Caucus Voices Concerns of Potential Trade Status Change for Vietnam

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov) Steel Caucus Voices Concerns of Potential Trade Status Change for Vietnam 6/27/2024 Washington, D.C. – 37 Bipartisan Members of the Congressional Steel Caucus, led by Chairman Rick Crawford (AR-01) and Vice Chairman Frank Mrvan (IN-01) sent a letter to the secretary of commerce, Gina Raimondo, expressing concern about the department’s reconsideration […]



Jun 18, 2024
Immigration

Rep. Crawford’s Statement on Biden’s Mass Amnesty Order

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov) Rep. Crawford’s Statement on Biden’s Mass Amnesty Order 6/18/2024 Washington, D.C. — Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01) released the following statement regarding President Biden’s plan to grant amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.  “With illegal immigration soaring under President Biden’s open-border policies, straining law enforcement, public services, and resulting in […]