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A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to create two divisions in the Judicial District of Maryland.

Public Law 100-487 · H.R. 1596 · 100th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 14, 1988 · Law

Sponsor: Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5)

Cosponsors (6): Rep. Helen Bentley,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Amends the Federal judicial code to create two divisions in the judicial District of Maryland.

Lists the counties which comprise the Northern Division. States that court for the Northern Division shall be held at Baltimore, Cumberland, and Denton.

Lists the counties which comprise the Southern division. States that court for the Southern Division shall be held in Montgomery County or Prince George's County.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.

  1. Oct 14, 1988Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 100-487.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 7, 1988PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Sep 30, 1988FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Sep 26, 1988FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
  6. Sep 23, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
  7. Sep 22, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
  8. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  9. Aug 10, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  10. Mar 18, 1987CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
  11. Mar 12, 1987CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
  12. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.