28 U.S.C. § 143
Section 143 · Vacant judgeship as affecting proceedings
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case 246 F. Supp. 2d 1256 - Bryan v. Murphy (2003)
Most recently applied in 246 F. Supp. 2d 1256 - Bryan v. Murphy (February 2003)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
When the office of a district judge becomes vacant, all pending process, pleadings and proceedings shall, when necessary, be continued by the clerk until a judge is appointed or designated to hold such court.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 26 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 22, 36 Stat. 1090).
The last clause of section 26 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940, ed., prescribing the powers of a designated judge was omitted as covered by section 296 of this title.
Minor changes were made in phraseology.