United States federal judicial circuits

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Congress has divided the United States into a number of judicial circuits, each of which includes several District Courts and a Court of Appeals to decide appeals from cases decided in the district courts within the circuit.

There are currently eleven numbered circuits, and one for the District of Columbia that decides appeals from the district court in Washington, D.C. There is also a United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which does not have any geographical circuit, but hears appeals from any District Court in cases relating to patents. It also decides appeals from the specialized trial courts in a few areas, including federal claims, international trade, and veterans' rights.

The circuits, and the states and territories within their jurisdiction, are:

Federal Circuit (Washington) D.C. Circuit (Washington) District of Columbia 1st Circuit (Boston) Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Puerto Rico Rhode Island 2nd Circuit (New York) Connecticut New York Vermont 3rd Circuit (Philadelphia) Delaware New Jersey Pennsylvania U.S. Virgin Islands 4th Circuit (Richmond) Maryland North Carolina South Carolina Virginia West Virginia

5th Circuit (New Orleans) Louisiana Mississippi Texas 6th Circuit (Cincinnati) Kentucky Michigan Ohio Tennessee 7th Circuit (Chicago) Illinois Indiana Wisconsin 8th Circuit (St. Louis) Arkansas Iowa Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota

9th Circuit (San Francisco) Alaska Arizona California Guam Hawaii Idaho Montana Nevada Northern Mariana Islands Oregon Washington 10th Circuit (Denver) Colorado Kansas New Mexico Oklahoma Utah Wyoming 11th Circuit (Atlanta) Alabama Florida Georgia

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[edit] History

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established three circuits, which were groups of judicial districts in which United States circuit courts were established. Each circuit court consisted of two Supreme Court justices and the local district judge; the three circuits existed solely for the purpose of assigning the justices to a group of circuit courts. Some districts (generally the ones most difficult for an itinerant justice to reach) did not have a circuit court; in these districts the district court exercised the original jurisdiction of a circuit court. As new states were admitted to the Union, Congress often did not create circuit courts for them for a number of years.

The Judiciary Act of 1801 reorganized the districts into six circuits, and created circuit judgeships so that Supreme Court justices would no longer have to ride circuit. This Act, however, was repealed in March 1802, and Congress provided that the former circuit courts would be revived as of July 1 of that year. But it then passed the new Judiciary Act of 1802 in April, so that the revival of the old courts never took effect. The 1802 Act restored circuit riding, but with only one justice to a circuit; it therefore created six new circuits, but with slightly different compositions than the 1801 Act. These six circuits later were augmented by others. Until 1866, each new circuit (except the short-lived California Circuit) was accompanied by a newly-created Supreme Court seat.

State	Judicial District(s) created	Circuit assignment(s)
New Hampshire	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 1st, 1801–
Massachusetts	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 1st, 1801-
Maine	1789 (note 1)	1st, 1801-1802 1st, 1820–
Rhode Island	1790	Eastern, 1790–1801 1st, 1801-
Connecticut	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 2nd, 1801-
New York	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 2nd, 1801-
New Jersey	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 3rd, 1801-
Pennsylvania	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 3rd, 1801-
Delaware	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 3rd, 1801-1802 4th, 1802–1866 3rd, 1866–
Maryland	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 4th, 1801-
Virginia	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 4th, 1801-1802 5th, 1802–1842 4th, 1842–
Kentucky	1789 (note 2)	6th, 1801-1802 7th, 1807–1837 8th, 1837–1863 6th, 1863–
North Carolina	1790	Southern, 1790–1801 5th, 1801-1842 6th, 1842–1863 4th, 1863–
South Carolina	1789	Southern, 1789–1801 5th, 1801-1802 6th, 1802–1863 5th, 1863-1866 4th, 1866-
Georgia	1789	Southern, 1789–1801 5th, 1801-1802 6th, 1802–1863 5th, 1863–1981 11th, 1981–
Vermont	1791	Eastern, 1791–1801 2nd, 1801-
Tennessee	1796	6th, 1801-1802 7th, 1807–1837 8th, 1837–1863 6th, 1863–
Ohio	1801 (abolished 1802) (note 3)	6th, 1801-1802
Ohio	1803	7th, 1807-1866 6th, 1866–
Louisiana	1812	9th, 1837–1842 (Eastern District) 5th, 1842-1863 6th, 1863–1866 5th, 1866–
Indiana	1816	7th, 1837–
Mississippi	1817	9th, 1837–1863 5th, 1863–
Illinois	1818	7th, 1837–1863 8th, 1863-1866 7th, 1866–
Alabama	1819	9th, 1837–1842 5th, 1842–1981 11th, 1981–
Missouri	1821	8th, 1837–1863 9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–
Arkansas	1836	9th, 1837–1851 9th, 1851–1863 (Eastern District) 6th, 1863–1866 (Eastern District) 8th, 1866–
Michigan	1837	7th, 1837–1863 8th, 1863–1866 6th, 1866–
Florida	1845	5th, 1863–1981 11th, 1981–
Texas	1845	6th, 1863–1866 5th, 1866–
Iowa	1846	9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–
Wisconsin	1848	8th, 1863–1866 7th, 1866–
California	1850	California Circuit, 1855–1863 10th, 1863–1866 9th, 1866–
Minnesota	1858	9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–
Oregon	1859	10th, 1863–1866 9th, 1866–
Kansas	1861	9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–1929 10th, 1929–
West Virginia	1863	4th, 1863–
Nevada	1864	9th, 1866–
Nebraska	1867	8th, 1867–
Colorado	1876	8th, 1876–1929 10th, 1929–
North Dakota	1889	8th, 1889–
South Dakota	1889	8th, 1889–
Montana	1889	9th, 1889–
Washington	1889	9th, 1889–
Idaho	1890	9th, 1890–
Wyoming	1890	8th, 1890–1929 10th, 1929–
Utah	1896	8th, 1896–1929 10th, 1929–
Oklahoma	1907	8th, 1907–1929 10th, 1929–
New Mexico	1912	8th, 1912–1929 10th, 1929–
Arizona	1912	9th, 1912–
District of Columbia	1948 (note 4)	District of Columbia Circuit, 1948–
Alaska	1959	9th, 1959–
Hawaii	1959	9th, 1959–
Puerto Rico	1966 (note 5)	1st, 1966–

[edit] Notes

1. The Judiciary Act of 1789 divided Massachusetts into the Maine District, comprising what is now the State of Maine, and the Massachusetts District, comprising the remainder of the state.
2. The Judiciary Act of 1789 divided Virginia into the Kentucky District, comprising what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the Virginia District, comprising the remainder of the state.
3. The first District of Ohio encompassed the Northwest and Indiana Territories.
4. The pre-existing courts of the District of Columbia were elevated to United States district court and court of appeals status.
5. The pre-existing territorial district court of Puerto Rico was elevated to United States district court status. Appellate jurisdiction from the Puerto Rico courts was assigned to the 1st Circuit in 1915.

[edit] External links

• Info about U.S. courts
• History of the Federal Judiciary (Federal Judicial Center)