Extinct district courts




Subdivided district courtsedit

Most extinct district courts have disappeared by being divided into smaller districts. The following courts were subdivided out of existence: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Other abolished district courtsedit

On rare occasions, an extinct district court was extinguished by merging it with other district courts. In every case except one, this has restored a district court that had been subdivided:

  • Between 1794 and 1797, the United States District Court for the District of North Carolina was divided into the United States district courts for the districts of Edenton, New Bern, and Wilmington.
  • Between 1801 and 1802, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey was divided into the United States district courts for the districts of East Jersey and West Jersey.
  • When California was admitted as a state in 1850, it was initially divided into two districts, the Northern and the Southern. The Southern District of California was abolished on July 27, 1866, and the State made to constitute one district, the statute providing that the Judge of the Northern District exercise the powers of the United States District Court for the District of California, and that all records of the Southern District Court be delivered to the Clerk of the Northern District Court. Twenty years later, on August 5, 1886, Congress re-created the Southern District of California.
  • Between 1911 and 1961, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina was divided into the United States district courts for the Eastern and Western districts of South Carolina.
  • The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois was eliminated and a new United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois was created in its place on October 2, 1978.

There are a few additional extinct district courts that fall into neither of the above two patterns.

  • From 1801 to 1802, the District of Columbia and pieces of Maryland and Virginia formed the United States District Court for the District of Potomac, which was the first United States district court to cross state lines. During the same period, the United States District Court for the District of Norfolk was carved out of another piece of Virginia. The United States district courts for the districts of Maryland and Virginia remained during this brief period.
  • From 1801 to 1802, and again from 1802 to 1872, the state of North Carolina was subdivided into the United States district courts for the districts of Albemarle, Cape Fear, and Pamptico. These courts were extinguished when the state was reorganized into the United States district courts for the Eastern and Western districts of North Carolina.
  • United States District Court for the District of Orleans. This court was renamed the United States District Court for the District of Louisiana when the Territory of Orleans became the State of Louisiana.
  • United States District Court for the Canal Zone. This court was abolished, effective March 31, 1982, as part of the process of returning the Canal Zone to Panama. Cases then pending in the Canal Zone court were transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans.
  • United States Court for China. This court functioned as a district court between 1906 and 1943. It had jurisdiction over American citizens in China.

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