List of United States district and territorial courts


There are 94 active United States district and territorial courts. Each of the 50 states has between one and four district courts, and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico each have a district court.
The insular areas of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands each have one territorial court; these courts are called "district courts" and exercise the same jurisdiction as district courts, but differ from district courts in that territorial courts are Article IV courts, with judges who serve ten-year terms rather than the lifetime tenure of judges of Article III courts, such as the district court judges. American Samoa does not have a district court or a federal territorial court, and so federal matters there are sent to either the District of Columbia or Hawaii.

Definition

The district courts were established by Congress under Article III of the United States Constitution. The courts hear civil and criminal cases, and each is paired with a bankruptcy court. Appeals from the district courts are made to one of the 13 courts of appeals, organized geographically. The number of district courts in a court of appeals' circuit varies between one and thirteen, depending on the number of states in the region and the number of districts in each state.
The formal naming convention for the district courts is "United States District Court for" followed by the district name. Each district court has one or more meeting places at which it holds hearings and conducts business. Many federal courthouses are named after notable judges, such as the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in New York City or the Hugo L. Black Courthouse in Birmingham. The largest courthouse is the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse, which serves the Eastern District of Missouri.
The largest courts by number of judges are the Central District of California and the Southern District of New York, each with 28 judgeships. The smallest are the District for the Northern Mariana Islands and the District of Guam, with one judgeship each.

Active courts

; Key
CitationThe abbreviation used to refer to court decisions.
EstablishedThe date the district court was established as a court or the date it was subdivided from a larger district.
JudgesThe number of judgeships authorized for the district.
Meeting placesThe number of locations at which the court hears cases.

Defunct courts

Note: Defunct courts do not include courts consisting of an entire state that were later subdivided.
NameCitationEstablishedDisestablished
—17941797
—17941797
—17941797
—18011802
—18011802
—18011802
—18011802
—18021872
—18021872
—18021872
—18041812
E.D. Ill.19051978
—19061943
E.D.S.C.19111965
W.D.S.C.19111965
D.C.Z.19141982
D.Berlin19551990

Subdivided courts

NameCitationEstablishedSubdivided
District of AlabamaD. Ala.April 21, 1820March 10, 1824
District of ArkansasD. Ark.June 15, 1836March 3, 1851
District of CaliforniaD. Cal.July 27, 1866August 5, 1886
District of FloridaD. Fla.March 3, 1845February 23, 1847
District of GeorgiaD. Ga.September 24, 1789August 11, 1848
District of IllinoisD. Ill.March 3, 1819February 13, 1855
District of IndianaD. Ind.March 3, 1817April 21, 1928
District of IowaD. IowaMarch 3, 1845July 20, 1882
District of KentuckyD. Ky.September 24, 1789
March 8, 1802		February 13, 1801
February 12, 1901
District of LouisianaD. La.April 8, 1812
February 13, 1845
July 27, 1866		March 3, 1823
March 3, 1849
March 3, 1881
District of MichiganD. Mich.July 1, 1836February 24, 1863
District of MississippiD. Miss.April 3, 1818June 18, 1838
District of MissouriD. Mo.March 16, 1822March 3, 1857
District of New YorkD.N.Y.September 24, 1789April 9, 1814
District of North CarolinaD.N.C.June 4, 1790
March 3, 1797		June 9, 1794
April 29, 1802
District of OhioD. OhioFebruary 19, 1803February 10, 1855
District of PennsylvaniaD. Pa.September 24, 1789April 20, 1818
District of TennesseeD. Tenn.January 31, 1797
March 8, 1802		February 13, 1801
April 29, 1802
District of TexasD. Tex.December 29, 1845February 21, 1857
District of VirginiaD. Va.September 24, 1789
March 8, 1802
June 11, 1864		February 13, 1801
February 4, 1819
February 3, 1871
District of WashingtonD. Wash.April 5, 1890March 2, 1905
District of West VirginiaD.W.Va.June 11, 1864January 22, 1901
District of WisconsinD. Wis.May 29, 1848June 30, 1870