<P> The total number of active federal judges is constantly in flux, for two reasons . First, judges retire or die, and a lapse of time occurs before new judges are appointed to fill those positions . Second, from time to time Congress will increase (or, less frequently, decrease) the number of federal judgeships in a particular judicial district, usually in response to shifting population numbers or a changing workload in that district . </P> <P> As of May 2012, a total of 3,294 individuals had been appointed to federal judgeships, including 2,758 district court judges, 714 courts of appeals judges, 95 judges to the now - extinct circuit courts, and 112 Supreme Court justices . This adds up to 3,679 total appointments; a substantial number of appellate judges (including Supreme Court justices) had previously served on the lower court bench . </P> <P> There are currently 874 authorized Article III judgeships: nine on the Supreme Court, 179 on the courts of appeals, nine on the Court of International Trade and 677 for the district courts . Although the number of Supreme Court justices has remained the same for well over a century, the number of court of appeals judges has more than doubled since 1950, and the number of district court judges has increased more than three-fold in that period . </P> <P> Unlike the judges of Article III courts, non-Article III judges are appointed for specified terms of office . Examples include United States magistrate judges and judges of the United States bankruptcy courts, United States Tax Court, United States Court of Federal Claims, and United States territorial courts . Although the term "non-Article III judges" is used to describe the absence of tenure and salary protection, bankruptcy courts are formally designated as divisions of U.S. District Courts, whose district judges are Article III judicial officers . Moreover, in Freytag v. Commissioner, 501 U.S. 868 (1991), the Supreme Court concluded that the judges of the U.S. Tax Court (and their special trial judges) exercise a portion of "the judicial power of the United States ." </P>

How many federal district court judges are there in the us