28 U.S.C. § 296
Section 296 · Powers upon designation and assignment
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case United States v. Brooks (1949)
Most recently applied in United States v. Zamorano-Ponce (September 2011)
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.
A justice or judge shall discharge, during the period of his designation and assignment, all judicial duties for which he is designated and assigned. He may be required to perform any duty which might be required of a judge of the court or district or circuit to which he is designated and assigned.
Such justice or judge shall have all the powers of a judge of the court, circuit or district to which he is designated and assigned, except the power to appoint any person to a statutory position or to designate permanently a depository of funds or a newspaper for publication of legal notices. However, a district judge who has retired from regular active service under section 371(b) of this title, when designated and assigned to the court to which such judge was appointed, having performed in the preceding calendar year an amount of work equal to or greater than the amount of work an average judge in active service on that court would perform in 6 months, and having elected to exercise such powers, shall have the powers of a judge of that court to participate in appointment of court officers and magistrate judges, rulemaking, governance, and administrative matters.
A justice or judge who has sat by designation and assignment in another district or circuit may, notwithstanding his absence from such district or circuit or the expiration of the period of his designation and assignment, decide or join in the decision and final disposition of all matters submitted to him during such period and in the consideration and disposition of applications for rehearing or further proceedings in such matters.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§17, 18, 22, 23, 301 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §§13, 14, 18, 19, 188, 36 Stat. 1089, 1143; Oct. 3, 1913, ch. 18, 38 Stat. 203; Feb. 25, 1919, ch. 29, §§2, 5, 40 Stat. 1156, 1157; Sept. 14, 1922, ch. 306, §§3, 4, 5, 42 Stat. 839; Dec. 13, 1926, ch. 6, §1, 44 Stat. 919; Mar. 2, 1929, ch. 488, §1, 45 Stat. 1475; June 7, 1934, ch. 426, 48 Stat. 926; June 25, 1936, ch. 804, 49 Stat. 1921; Aug. 24, 1937, ch. 754, §4, 50 Stat. 753; Dec. 29, 1942, ch. 835, §§1, 2, 5, 6, 56 Stat. 1094, 1095).
Section simplifies provisions of sections 17, 18, paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 22, and sections 23 and 301 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating to powers and duties of designated judges.
Other provisions of said sections 17 and 22 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., are incorporated in sections 291, 292, and 295 of this title.
Other provisions of said section 301 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., are incorporated in sections 211–213, 215, and 293 of this title.
Section is made applicable to retired justices of the Supreme Court by inclusion of reference to “justice,” on the theory that a justice should have the same powers and duties and be subject to the same limitations as designated and assigned circuit and district judges.
The second sentence of the revised section was substituted for the provision of section 18 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., which subjected circuit judges to the same assignments of duty as the circuit judges of the circuit to which they are designated and assigned. The revised section extends this requirement and makes it applicable to all designated and assigned judges.
The provision in the last paragraph of said section 22 that the action of the assigned judge in writing filed with the clerk of court where the trial or hearing was held shall be valid as if such action had been taken by him within the district and within the period of his designation, was omitted as surplusage. See section 295 of this title.
Amendments
2008—Pub. L. 110–177 inserted at end of second par. “However, a district judge who has retired from regular active service under section 371(b) of this title, when designated and assigned to the court to which such judge was appointed, having performed in the preceding calendar year an amount of work equal to or greater than the amount of work an average judge in active service on that court would perform in 6 months, and having elected to exercise such powers, shall have the powers of a judge of that court to participate in appointment of court officers and magistrate judges, rulemaking, governance, and administrative matters.”