United States District Court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.
There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.
There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.
District courts and associated circuit courts
1st Circuit
2nd Circuit
3rd Circuit
4th Circuit
5th Circuit
6th Circuit
7th Circuit
8th Circuit
9th Circuit
- District of Alaska
- District of Arizona
- Central District of California
- Eastern District of California
- Northern District of California
- Southern District of California
- District of Hawaii
- District of Idaho
- District of Montana
- District of Nevada
- District of Oregon
- Eastern District of Washington
- Western District of Washington
10th Circuit
11th Circuit
D.C. Circuit
By State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
District of Columbia
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
District court judges
There are 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.[1][2]
The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.
In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.[3]
Appointments by president
The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through March 1 of the first year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, no president had made Article III judicial appointments.
See also
External links
- Official site of the United States Courts
- Federal Court Concepts, Georgia Tech
- United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire Official Website
Footnotes
- ↑ US Courts, "Federal Judgeships," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 U.S. Courts, "United States District Court Federal Judiciary Frequently Asked Questions," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
- ↑ United States District Courts, "District Courts," accessed May 10, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The 'Lectric Law Library, "Understanding the U.S. federal courts"
- ↑ US Courts, "Table X-1A—Other Judicial Business (September 30, 2018)," accessed July 24, 2019
- ↑ US Courts, "Table X-1A—Other Judicial Business (September 30, 2019)," accessed August 28, 2020
- ↑ US Courts, "Explanation of Selected Terms," accessed July 25, 2019
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center: The U.S. District Courts and the Federal Judiciary