A U.S. district court is a federal trial court — the place where federal lawsuits and criminal prosecutions are filed, evidence is presented, and judgments are entered before any appeal. Congress has created 94 of these courts, spread across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories, and together they handled more than 414,000 civil and criminal filings in 2024.1United States Courts. Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2024 If a dispute involves federal law, the Constitution, or parties from different states, the district court is almost always where it begins.
What Cases a District Court Can Hear
A district court cannot take just any case. Federal statutes define the categories that qualify, and a lawsuit has to fit one of them.
Federal Question Cases
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, district courts hear any civil case arising under the Constitution, federal statutes, or U.S. treaties.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1331 – Federal Question Employment discrimination claims under federal labor laws, constitutional challenges to government action, and disputes with federal agencies all come in through this door. There is no minimum dollar amount.
Diversity Cases
When the claim is purely state law but the parties are from different states, 28 U.S.C. § 1332 opens the federal courthouse if the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1332 – Diversity of Citizenship; Amount in Controversy; Costs The dollar floor keeps smaller local disputes in state court.
Related State-Law Claims
A single lawsuit often mixes federal and state claims that grow out of the same facts. Rather than splitting them between two courts, 28 U.S.C. § 1367 lets the district court hear the related state-law claims alongside the federal ones.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1367 – Supplemental Jurisdiction The court can decline that supplemental jurisdiction if the state issue is complex, dominates the case, or if every federal claim has already been dismissed.
Cases Moved From State Court
Not every federal case starts in federal court. A defendant sued in state court can remove the case under 28 U.S.C. § 1441 if the district court would have had original jurisdiction over it.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1441 – Actions Removable Generally The notice of removal has to be filed within 30 days of being served with the complaint.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1446 – Procedure for Removal of Civil Actions Miss the window and the case generally stays where it was filed.
Certain subject areas belong to the district court exclusively. Admiralty and maritime cases involving navigable waters go nowhere else.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1333 – Admiralty, Maritime and Prize Cases Patent and copyright infringement suits must also be filed in federal court, usually in the district where the defendant resides or where the alleged infringement occurred.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1400 – Patents and Copyrights, Mask Works, and Designs
How a Civil Case Moves Through the Court
A civil case begins when the plaintiff files a complaint with the clerk of court. The complaint identifies the parties, lays out the facts, explains why the court has jurisdiction, and states what the plaintiff wants. Filing requires a statutory fee plus a $55 administrative fee, and plaintiffs who cannot afford to pay can apply to proceed in forma pauperis.9United States Courts. District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule
Once the case is filed, the plaintiff has 90 days to serve the complaint and a court-issued summons on every defendant. A defendant who is not served in that window can be dismissed from the case, though showing good cause for the delay can earn an extension.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons Service can be handled by a process server, a U.S. Marshal in certain cases, or anyone over 18 who is not a party.
Deadlines for filing matter just as much as deadlines for service. For federal civil claims created by statutes enacted after December 1, 1990, a default four-year statute of limitations applies unless the specific statute sets its own deadline.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1658 – Time Limitations on the Commencement of Civil Actions Arising Under Acts of Congress Older federal statutes often borrow an analogous state limitation period, which makes the deadline harder to pin down.
Individuals can represent themselves without a lawyer. These pro se litigants have every right to pursue their claims, but courts hold them to the same procedural rules as attorneys and cannot give legal advice or fill out forms for them.
Civil filings dominate the federal docket, accounting for roughly 348,000 cases in 2024.1United States Courts. Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2024 They range from civil rights and employment disputes to environmental enforcement, tax litigation, and challenges to federal agency decisions.
How Criminal Cases Work in Federal Court
District courts have exclusive jurisdiction over federal crimes. No state court can try a federal offense.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3231 – District Courts The federal criminal docket looks different from a state docket: drug trafficking, wire fraud, tax evasion, immigration violations, and firearms offenses make up a large share of the roughly 66,000 criminal defendant filings each year.1United States Courts. Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2024
Sentencing is guided by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. After the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Booker, the guidelines are advisory rather than mandatory, but judges must still consult them, and they continue to exert significant influence over most sentences.13United States Sentencing Commission. The Influence of the Guidelines on Federal Sentencing
Who Works in a District Court
The courthouse runs on a mix of judges and professional staff, each with a defined role in moving cases from filing to resolution.
District Judges
District judges are the court’s primary judicial officers. They are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serve lifetime appointments under Article III of the Constitution.14United States Courts. Types of Federal Judges They preside over the most complex trials, rule on dispositive motions, and enter final judgments.
Magistrate Judges
Magistrate judges are appointed by the district court itself. Full-time magistrate judges serve eight-year terms; part-time magistrate judges serve four-year terms.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 631 – Appointment and Tenure They carry a heavy load of pretrial work: motions, discovery disputes, initial appearances, and bail hearings. A district judge can assign most pretrial matters to a magistrate judge, though summary judgment and motions to dismiss stay with the district judge.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 636 – Jurisdiction, Powers, and Temporary Assignment If all parties consent, a magistrate judge can preside over a full civil trial and enter judgment.
Clerks, Marshals, and Probation Officers
The Clerk of Court runs the administrative side of the courthouse: managing the docket, processing filings, issuing summonses, overseeing jury selection, and maintaining the official record.17Federal Judicial Center. Court Officers and Staff: Clerks of Court Every document filed with the court passes through that office.
The U.S. Marshals Service provides security for federal courthouses, protects judges, jurors, and witnesses, and executes court orders including arrest warrants and property seizures. Marshals can make warrantless arrests for federal offenses committed in their presence and carry firearms.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 566 – Powers and Duties
Probation and pretrial services officers work on both ends of a criminal case. Before trial, pretrial services officers investigate defendants to inform bail and release decisions. After conviction, probation officers prepare presentence reports and supervise people released into the community.19United States Courts. Probation and Pretrial Services
Grand Juries and Trial Juries
Two very different juries operate inside a district court. A grand jury reviews evidence from a federal prosecutor and decides whether there is probable cause to charge someone with a crime; if so, it returns an indictment. Grand juries have 16 to 23 members and serve for extended terms, typically up to 18 months and sometimes 24 months with a judge’s approval. Their proceedings are secret.20United States Courts. Types of Juries
Trial juries, also called petit juries, decide the outcome of individual cases. They range from 6 to 12 members and hear a single case before being discharged.20United States Courts. Types of Juries A criminal prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A civil plaintiff carries the lighter burden of preponderance of the evidence, showing that their version is more likely than not.
To serve on a federal jury, a person must be a U.S. citizen at least 18 years old, proficient in English, a resident of the district for at least one year, and free of disqualifying felony convictions.21United States Courts. Juror Qualifications, Exemptions and Excuses
How the 94 Districts Are Organized
Congress has drawn the map of federal judicial districts in 28 U.S.C. §§ 81 through 131.22Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC Ch. 5 – District Courts Every state has at least one district. California, New York, and Texas each have four. Smaller states like Wyoming have one. The system also covers the District of Columbia and territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Districts often have courthouses in several cities, and cases are generally assigned to the one closest to where the dispute arose or where the parties are located. Each district writes its own local rules on matters like page limits, discovery procedures, and pretrial conferences. Those local rules can differ meaningfully from one district to the next, so checking them before filing anything is essential.
Specialized Proceedings Inside the District Court
Two specialized tracks extend the district court’s work beyond standard trials.
Bankruptcy Court
Each judicial district contains a bankruptcy court that operates as a unit of the district court. Bankruptcy judges are not Article III judges and do not have lifetime tenure, but they exercise the district court’s authority over bankruptcy cases.23Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 151 – Designation of Bankruptcy Courts Individuals and businesses file for bankruptcy in the district where they live or operate.
Multidistrict Litigation
When many related lawsuits are filed in different districts, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation can consolidate them for pretrial proceedings in a single district under 28 U.S.C. § 1407.24Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1407 – Multidistrict Litigation Mass tort cases involving defective products, pharmaceutical injuries, and data breaches are commonly handled this way. Cases that do not settle during the consolidated pretrial stage are sent back to their original districts for trial.
Appeals From a District Court
The district court sits at the base of the federal three-tier system, and it is the only federal court where witnesses testify, juries deliberate, and a factual record is built. A party who loses can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit that covers the district.25Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 3 – Appeal as of Right, How Taken Deadlines are short: 30 days from entry of judgment in most civil cases, 60 days when the federal government is a party, and 14 days for a criminal defendant.26Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 4 – Appeal as of Right, When Taken Missing the deadline usually means losing the right to appeal.
Appellate courts do not retry cases or hear new evidence. They review the existing record for legal error. Questions of law get a fresh look with no deference to the trial judge; factual findings get far more deference and are overturned only when the appellate court is firmly convinced of a mistake. Above the circuit courts sits the U.S. Supreme Court, which accepts only a small fraction of the cases it is asked to review, typically those that resolve conflicting interpretations of federal law among the circuits.27Supreme Court of the United States. The Court and Constitutional Interpretation For most litigants, the court of appeals is the last stop.