United States district court facts for kids

The United States district courts are important courts in the federal court system of the United States. They are the main trial courts, which means they are where cases first go to be heard and decided. Think of them as the starting point for many legal disputes at the federal level.

How Federal Courts Work

United States district courts hold trials, just like state courts do. However, the U.S. Constitution gives federal courts power to hear only certain types of cases. This means they don't handle every kind of legal problem.

For example, federal courts can hear cases about:

• Whether a law follows the Constitution (is it constitutional?).
• Disagreements between two or more states.
• Serious crimes that happen at sea.
• Problems with bankruptcy (when someone can't pay their debts).
• Cases involving United States Ambassadors or international treaties.

In these courts, a judge leads the trial. A group of citizens, called a jury, usually listens to the evidence and decides what happened.

How District Courts Are Set Up

There are 94 U.S. district courts across the United States. Each one also has a special bankruptcy court.

Every state in the U.S. (and Washington, D.C.) has at least one district court. Four U.S. territories also have their own district courts. These are Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

What Happens If You Appeal a Decision?

If someone disagrees with a decision made in a district court, they can ask a higher court to review it. This is called an appeal. The next level of federal courts are the United States Courts of Appeals. These are often called "appellate courts."

There are 13 Courts of Appeals. The 94 district courts are grouped into 12 larger areas, which are called "circuits." Each Court of Appeals handles appeals from the district courts in its circuit.

For example, the District Courts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico are all part of the "First Circuit." If someone wants to appeal a decision from the District Court of Massachusetts, they would send their appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The highest court you can appeal to in the United States is the United States Supreme Court. It's the final stop for most appeals.

Where Are the District Courts Located?

This map shows which circuit each United States District Court belongs to. States that are the same color are in the same circuit. Each circuit has a number. For example, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are all in the 5th Circuit.

Map of the United States District Courts, and which circuit each District Court is in

The dotted lines on the map show the different areas that each District Court covers. If a state has no dotted lines, it means there's only one District Court for that whole state. For example, Alaska has just one District Court, which covers the entire state.

Other states are divided into more than one district. The dotted lines show where one district ends and another begins. For instance, Washington state is split down the middle by a dotted line. This means Washington has two District Courts: one for the Western District of Washington and one for the Eastern District of Washington.

List of District Courts

Here is a list of all the United States District Courts. Like on the map, districts in the same circuit have the same color. For example, districts in the 8th Circuit are orange on both the map and this list. You can sort this table by clicking the little triangle at the top of each column.

Related Pages

• Federal judiciary of the United States (the entire federal court system)
• United States courts of appeals

Images for kids

• 

  United States District Court Attorney Admissions Reciprocity Map

• 

  United States Court House in downtown Los Angeles, California, one of several sites used by the Central District of California.

See also

In Spanish: Cortes de Distrito de los Estados Unidos para niños