[House Report 116-248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


116th Congress     }                                    {     Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session       }                                    {     116-248

======================================================================


 
DIVISIONAL REALIGNMENT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS ACT OF 2019

                                _______
                                

October 22, 2019.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Nadler, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1123]

    The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 1123) to amend title 28, United States Code, to 
modify the composition of the eastern judicial district of 
Arkansas, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose and Summary..............................................     1
Background and Need for the Legislation..........................     2
Hearings.........................................................     2
Committee Consideration..........................................     2
Committee Votes..................................................     2
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures and Congressional 
  Budget Office Cost Estimate....................................     2
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     2
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     3
Advisory on Earmarks.............................................     3
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     3
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     3

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 1123 would amend 28 U.S.C. 83 to divide the Eastern 
District of Arkansas into three divisions: the Central, Delta, 
and Northern Divisions.

                Background and Need for the Legislation

    H.R. 1123 would amend current law to reduce the number of 
operating divisions in the Eastern District of Arkansas from 
five to three. The bill was prompted by the closure in 2017 of 
the only federal courthouses in two of the current divisions. 
The three new divisions created by H.R. 1123 would align with 
the three remaining courthouses in that district. The new 
divisional lines are based primarily on caseload history and 
travel times to the remaining courthouses.

                                Hearings

    The Committee held no hearings on H.R. 1123.

                        Committee Consideration

    On October 16, 2019, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered the bill, H.R. 1123, favorably reported, without 
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.

                            Committee Votes

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that no 
rollcall votes occurred during the Committee's consideration of 
H.R. 1123.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

  New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures and Congressional Budget 
                          Office Cost Estimate

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested 
but not received a cost estimate for this Report from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office. The Committee has 
requested but not received from the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office a statement as to whether this 
Report contains any new budget authority, spending authority, 
credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax 
expenditures.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    No provision of H.R. 1123 establishes or reauthorizes a 
program of the federal government known to be duplicative of 
another federal program, a program that was included in any 
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program 
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H.R. 
1123 would better align the judicial divisions of the Eastern 
District of Arkansas with the presently-open courthouses in the 
district.

                          Advisory on Earmarks

    In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 1123 does not contain any 
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    The following discussion describes the bill as reported by 
the Committee.
    Sec. 1. Short Title. Section 1 sets forth the short title 
of the bill as the ``Divisional Realignment for the Eastern 
District of Arkansas Act of 2019.''
    Sec. 2. Definitions. Section 2 amends section 83 of title 
28 of the U.S. Code to define the three divisions (Central, 
Delta, and Northern) that comprise the Eastern District of 
Arkansas and where court shall be held for each.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, H.R. 1123, as reported, are shown as follows:

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

                      TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE




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Sec. 83. Arkansas

  Arkansas is divided into two judicial districts to be known 
as the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
                                                [Eastern 
                                                District]
  [(a) The Eastern District comprises five divisions.
          [(1) The Eastern Division comprises the counties of 
        Cross, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, Saint Francis, and 
        Woodruff.
Court for the Eastern Division shall be held at Helena.
          [(2) The Western Division comprises the counties of 
        Conway, Faulkner, Lonoke, Perry, Pope, Prairie, 
        Pulaski, Saline, Van Buren, White, and Yell.
Court for the Western Division shall be held at Little Rock.
          [(3) The Pine Bluff Division comprises the counties 
        of Arkansas, Chicot, Cleveland, Dallas, Desha, Drew, 
        Grant, Jefferson, and Lincoln.
Court for the Pine Bluff Division shall be held at Pine Bluff.
          [(4) The Northern Division comprises the counties of 
        Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Sharp, 
        and Stone.
Court for the Northern Division shall be held at Batesville.
          [(5) The Jonesboro Division comprises the counties of 
        Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Lawrence, 
        Mississippi, Poinsett, and Randolph.
Court for the Jonesboro Division shall be held at Jonesboro.]
                                                Eastern 
                                                District
  (a) The Eastern District comprises three divisions.
          (1) The Central Division comprises the counties of 
        Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway, Dallas, Drew, Faulkner, 
        Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lonoke, Perry, Pope, 
        Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, Stone, Van Buren, White, and 
        Yell.
Court for the Central Division shall be held at Little Rock.
          (2) The Delta Division comprises the counties of 
        Arkansas, Chicot, Crittenden, Desha, Lee, Monroe, 
        Phillips, and St. Francis.
Court for the Delta Division shall be held at Helena.
          (3) The Northern Division comprises the counties of 
        Clay, Craighead, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Independence, 
        Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, 
        Randolph, Sharp, and Woodruff.
Court for the Northern Division shall be held at Jonesboro.
                                                Western 
                                                District
   (b) The Western District comprises six divisions.
   (1) The Texarkana Division comprises the counties of 
Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, and 
Sevier.
   Court for the Texarkana Division shall be held at Texarkana, 
and may be held anywhere within the Federal courthouse in 
Texarkana that is located astride the State line between Texas 
and Arkansas.
   (2) The El Dorado Division comprises the counties of Ashley, 
Bradley, Calhoun, Columbia, Ouachita, and Union.
   Court for the El Dorado Division shall be held at El Dorado.
   (3) The Fort Smith Division comprises the counties of 
Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Polk, Scott, and Sebastian.
   Court for the Fort Smith Division shall be held at Fort 
Smith.
   (4) The Harrison Division comprises the counties of Baxter, 
Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton, and Searcy.
   Court for the Harrison Division shall be held at Harrison.
   (5) The Fayetteville Division comprises the counties of 
Benton, Madison, and Washington.
   Court for the Fayetteville Division shall be held at 
Fayetteville.
   (6) The Hot Springs Division comprises the counties of 
Clark, Garland, Hot Springs, Montgomery, and Pike.
   Court for the Hot Springs Division shall be held at Hot 
Springs.

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