U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have introduced legislation to add three judgeships to Colorado’s federal trial court in response to the state’s increasing caseloads and population.

Congress last acted in 1984 to establish one additional seat on the U.S. District Court for Colorado. At the time, roughly three million people lived in the state. Today, Colorado has 5.7 million residents.

“By adding three seats to the bench, our legislation will provide much-needed support to Colorado’s district court,” said Bennet.

In February, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse sponsored similar legislation to also add three judges. A comprehensive House of Representatives proposal over the summer upped the number to four, with 203 additional trial court judgeships being suggested nationwide.

Currently, there are seven Senate-confirmed judgeships authorized for Colorado. The district court also relies on senior judges, who are retired district judges handling cases part time, as well as magistrate judges hired by the court. The court regularly hears civil rights cases, contract disputes and prisoner petitions.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, which is the policymaking body for the federal courts, has deemed Colorado to be in a “judicial emergency” owing to one vacancy on the court. Senior Judge R. Brooke Jackson stepped down as an active judge in September, but President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace him, Charlotte N. Sweeney, has still not received a confirmation vote.

In fact, the lack of Republican support in committee last week means her nomination will be delayed further while an additional procedural vote occurs.

The Judicial Conference calculated, using a weighted average, that there are 641 case filings per judge in Colorado. That exceeds the judicial emergency threshold of 600 filings per judge.

The clerk of the district court told Colorado Politics earlier this year that there is existing space in downtown Denver to accommodate more judges. Colorado’s senators also sponsored a bill in 2019 to add two new judge positions, but the Senate took no action.