There are 94 federal district courts in the United States. Eighty-nine of them sit inside the 50 states, and the remaining five serve the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Every state has at least one, and no district crosses a state line.1United States Courts. About U.S. District Courts
How the 89 State Districts Are Divided
Smaller states operate as a single district. Vermont and Rhode Island, for example, each have one federal district covering the entire state. Larger or more populous states are split into multiple districts to keep caseloads manageable and courthouses within reasonable reach of the people who use them.
California, New York, and Texas top the list with four districts each, usually labeled Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western (Central, in California’s case). Several states have three, including Louisiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The rest have either two or one.
Within a single district, cases are often assigned to specific divisions tied to particular courthouses. A geographically large district may hold court in several cities, with each city serving as the seat of a division. The divisions are an administrative convenience, not separate courts, and they don’t change the total count.
The Five Districts Outside the 50 States
The last five districts bring the national total to 94. One sits in the District of Columbia, one in Puerto Rico, and one each in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. All five function as federal trial courts, but they rest on different constitutional foundations.1United States Courts. About U.S. District Courts
The courts in D.C. and Puerto Rico are Article III courts. Their judges are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and hold lifetime appointments on the same terms as judges in the 50 states.2Constitution Annotated. ArtIII.S1.9.4 District of Columbia and Territorial Courts
The courts in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are Article IV courts, created by Congress under its power to govern U.S. territories. They are sometimes called legislative courts, and their judges serve fixed terms rather than life tenure. The cases they hear are the same kinds any other federal district court hears.2Constitution Annotated. ArtIII.S1.9.4 District of Columbia and Territorial Courts
That split is why you may run into a figure of 91 rather than 94. Article III district judges serve in 91 of the districts, meaning the 89 state districts plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. The three island-territory courts are counted differently because their judges are appointed under a different part of the Constitution. The number of district courts is still 94. The number of districts staffed by Article III judges is 91.3United States Courts. Types of Federal Judges
Where the Count Is Set in Law
The 94 districts and their geographic boundaries are defined in Chapter 5 of Title 28 of the United States Code, in sections 81 through 131. Each section names the districts for a particular state or territory and lists the counties or parishes assigned to each one. Kentucky, for instance, is divided into Eastern and Western districts, with every county placed in one or the other. That county-by-county mapping is what fixes each district’s precise territory.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code Chapter 5 Part I – District Courts
A different statute, 28 U.S.C. ยง 133, is sometimes cited as the source of the 94-district count. It isn’t. Section 133 sets the number of judges appointed to each district, not the number or boundaries of the districts themselves.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 133 – Appointment and Number of District Judges
Where District Courts Sit in the Federal System
The 94 district courts form the trial level of the federal judiciary. They are the only federal courts where witnesses testify, juries hear evidence, and judges make findings of fact. Every federal civil lawsuit, criminal prosecution, and bankruptcy case begins in one of them.
Above the district courts are 13 courts of appeals. Twelve are regional circuits, each covering several states and their district courts; the Ninth Circuit, for example, includes district courts in California, Oregon, Washington, and six other western states and territories. The thirteenth is the Federal Circuit, which hears appeals on specialized subjects such as patent law and government contracts regardless of geography.6United States Courts. Court Role and Structure
A party who loses at the district court can appeal to the circuit court covering that district. The circuit reviews the district judge’s legal conclusions but generally defers to the facts found at trial. The Supreme Court sits above the circuits and takes only a small fraction of the cases appealed to it. For most federal litigants, the district court is where the outcome is effectively decided, which is part of why the number of them, and where they are, matters at all.