28 U.S.C. § 371: Full Retirement, Senior Status, and Recall

Under 28 U.S.C. 371, an Article III federal judge who meets the age-and-service threshold can either fully retire from the bench or take senior status, and the practical differences between senior status and full retirement come down to three things: whether the judge keeps judicial authority, how the salary is calculated going forward, and whether the judge can still be assigned cases. Full retirement ends the judgeship and locks the annuity to the retirement-date salary. Senior status preserves the office, lets the judge keep hearing cases on a reduced schedule, and, if annual workload standards are met, pays the current salary of the position with every future raise built in.¹

Who Section 371 Covers

Section 371 applies only to Article III judges: Supreme Court justices, circuit judges on the Courts of Appeals, and district court judges appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serving during good behavior.¹²³⁴ Their benefits come directly from Title 28.

The Rule of 80: Shared Eligibility

Both options open at the same door. A judge qualifies once age plus years of federal judicial service total at least 80, with a minimum age of 65. The sliding scale in section 371 works like this:¹

Age 65 with 15 years of service
Age 66 with 14 years
Age 67 with 13 years
Age 68 with 12 years
Age 69 with 11 years
Age 70 with 10 years

Service does not have to be continuous. A judge who left the bench and later returned can add the years together to reach the threshold. Meeting these numbers is the qualifying step for either path. What differs is what happens after the judge chooses.

What Full Retirement Under Section 371(a) Looks Like

A judge who fully retires leaves the bench entirely. All judicial authority ends, and the President nominates a successor with Senate confirmation.¹ The retired judge draws a lifetime annuity equal to the salary they were earning on the day they retired. That figure is not permanently frozen. It receives cost-of-living adjustments under 28 U.S.C. 461, but the baseline is the retirement-date salary, not the current salary of the office they left.⁵

What Senior Status Under Section 371(b) Looks Like

A judge who takes senior status keeps the judicial office and steps back from full-time duties without giving up the appointment. The President still names a successor, so the court gains a new active judge while retaining the senior judge’s ongoing participation.¹

The salary treatment is the headline difference. A senior judge who meets the annual workload requirements receives the current salary of the office, including every pay raise that active judges get. As of January 2026, a U.S. district judge is paid $249,900.⁶ A certified senior district judge receives the same amount and moves up whenever active judges do.

If a senior judge stops meeting the workload standard, the salary freezes at the level in effect when the judge was last certified or last served in active status. The frozen figure continues to receive section 461 cost-of-living adjustments, but it no longer tracks the full salary of the office.⁷

The Workload Standard That Keeps the Senior Salary Current

To hold on to the full current salary, a senior judge has to be certified each calendar year as performing a minimum amount of work. The Chief Justice certifies senior Supreme Court justices. For every other Article III judge, the chief judge of the circuit does it.¹

The statute lists four ways to satisfy the requirement, and meeting any one of them in the prior year is enough:⁷

Handling at least one-quarter of the courtroom workload of an average active judge for the year.
Performing substantial non-courtroom judicial work — motions, opinions in cases not orally argued, settlement work — equivalent to at least three months of a full-time judge’s output.
Combining courtroom and non-courtroom duties that together equal at least three months of full-time work.
Performing substantial administrative work for the courts or another federal or state governmental entity, equal to the workload of a full-time judicial branch employee.

A disability safety net sits alongside these. If a senior judge cannot meet any of the standards because of a temporary or permanent condition, the chief judge can certify them on that basis. A judge certified as permanently disabled is treated as meeting the workload requirement automatically in every following year.

How the Two Pay Paths Diverge Over Time

Judicial salary adjustments run through 28 U.S.C. 461, which ties increases to the Employment Cost Index and caps the percentage at whatever General Schedule adjustment applies that year.⁵ The Constitution’s bar on cutting a judge’s pay during service means an adjustment can never produce a decrease.

The gap between the two retirement paths opens up here. A certified senior judge is paid whatever the office currently pays, so every raise since the judge stepped back is reflected in the check. A fully retired judge’s annuity also gets adjusted, but from the retirement-date baseline. Over years, the fully retired judge’s pay generally trails the senior judge’s, because the senior judge’s number keeps resetting to the current salary of the position while the retiree’s grows only by cost-of-living increments from a fixed starting point.

Recall to Active Service

Both retired and senior judges can be brought back to hear cases under 28 U.S.C. 294, a separate statute that governs judicial assignments rather than retirement.⁸ Recall is voluntary. A judge cannot be compelled to return and can limit the kinds of cases they will take or turn down individual assignments.

For assignments within the judge’s home circuit, the chief judge or the judicial council of that circuit handles it. For assignments outside the home circuit, the Chief Justice of the United States keeps a roster of willing senior judges and makes assignments after receiving a certificate of necessity from the court that needs help. No re-nomination or Senate confirmation is involved, because the judge never gave up the lifetime appointment. Once assigned, a recalled judge holds the same authority as an active one and can preside at trials, rule on motions, write opinions, and sit on appellate panels. The statute imposes one hard limit: no recalled judge may be assigned to the Supreme Court.⁸

Ethical Limits After the Choice

Senior judges remain bound by the Code of Conduct for United States Judges with only narrow exceptions. The most consequential restriction is that a judge on senior status cannot practice law. The Code allows a judge to act on their own behalf and to give uncompensated legal advice to family members, but private practice and representing clients are off-limits.⁹

A judge who has fully retired under section 371(a) and given up the office is not subject to the Code in the same way, though a retired judge who remains eligible for recall must follow the Code’s provisions for as long as that eligibility lasts. Article III judges on senior status have no ability to opt out of recall eligibility, because the lifetime appointment makes it a permanent feature of their status.

The Disability Alternative Under Section 372

The Rule of 80 is not the only route off the active bench. A judge who becomes permanently unable to perform judicial duties can retire under 28 U.S.C. 372 without meeting section 371’s age-and-service numbers. The judge certifies the disability in writing to the President, and the appropriate chief judge — the Chief Justice for Supreme Court associate justices, or the circuit chief judge for circuit and district judges — provides a supporting certificate.¹⁰

The pay depends on length of service. A judge with at least 10 years of service receives the salary of the office for life. A judge with fewer than 10 years receives half the salary of the office. If a disabled judge declines to retire voluntarily, the Judicial Council of the circuit can certify the disability to the President under section 372(b), and the President may appoint an additional judge. The disabled judge’s seat is not filled again after they eventually leave; the additional appointment functions as the replacement.¹⁰

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 371 – Retirement on Salary; Retirement in Senior Status
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 377 – Retirement of Bankruptcy Judges and Magistrate Judges
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8331 – Definitions
4
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 842 Subpart A – Coverage
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 461 – Adjustments in Certain Salaries
6
Federal Judicial Center. Judicial Salaries – US District Court Judges
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 371 – Retirement on Salary; Retirement in Senior Status
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 294 – Assignment of Retired Justices or Judges to Active Duty
9
United States Courts. Code of Conduct for United States Judges
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 372 – Retirement for Disability; Substitute Judge on Failure To Retire