United States federal judicial district
In the U.S. federal judicial system, the United States is divided into 94 judicial districts. Each state has at least one judicial district, as do the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Each judicial district contains a United States district court with a bankruptcy court under its authority. There is also a United States Attorney in each district, who acts as the federal government's lawyer in the district, both prosecuting federal criminal cases and defending the government (and its employees) in civil suits against them; the U.S. Attorney is not employed by the judicial branch but by the Department of Justice, part of the executive branch. There is also a Federal Public Defender who represents people charged with federal crimes who cannot afford to hire their own lawyers; some FPDs cover more than one judicial district. Each district also has a United States Marshal who serves the court system.
Federal judicial districts have also been established in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Three territories of the United States — the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands — have district courts that hear federal cases, including bankruptcy cases;[1] those three courts are territorial courts under Article I of the Constitution, not United States district courts, although they have similar jurisdiction. The breakdown of what is in each judicial district is codified in 28 U.S.C. §§ 81–131. Only two districts have jurisdiction over areas outside the state in which the court sits:
- The District of Wyoming includes all of Yellowstone National Park, including areas in Montana and Idaho.[2] This is the basis for the theory of the Zone of Death.
- The District of Hawaii includes the United States Minor Outlying Islands in the Pacific Ocean: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island.[3]
American Samoa and Navassa Island are the only United States territories without a designated federal court. Federal criminal cases arising in these territories, or outside any federal judicial district, are heard in the district where the defendant is arrested, first brought, last resided, or in the District of Columbia.[4] Under this rule, federal criminal cases arising in American Samoa are often heard in the District of Hawaii,[5] and a murder on Navassa Island in 1889 was heard in the District of Maryland.[6]
Census 1790–1840
[edit]From 1790 to 1840 judicial district offices were responsible for census activities, which were in turn conducted by the United States Marshal Service. After the passage of the Census Act of 1840, a central federal census office was established to take charge of census activities.
List of districts
[edit]Below is a list of the federal judicial districts and the place(s) where each court "sits" (holds trials) in each district.
| |
| Courts of appeals | |
| District courts |
|
| Specialty courts | |
| Territorial courts | |
| Extinct courts | |
| Note | American Samoa does not have a district court or federal territorial court; federal matters there go to the District of Columbia, Hawaii, or its own Supreme Court. |
References
[edit]- ^ "District Courts". United States Courts. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ 28 U.S.C. § 92, Idaho; § 106, Montana; § 131, Wyoming.
- ^ 28 U.S.C. § 91, Hawaii.
- ^ 18 U.S.C. § 3238, Offenses not committed in any district.
- ^ "American Samoa: Issues Associated with Some Federal Court Options" (PDF). United States Government Accountability Office. September 18, 2008.
- ^ "Jones v. United States". Justia. 1890.