A federal court district map shows the geographic boundaries of the 94 United States district courts, each of which handles federal trial-level cases within an assigned group of counties. Every state contains at least one district, no district crosses a state line, and the fastest way to identify yours is the Federal Court Finder at uscourts.gov, which returns the correct district for any street address, city, or ZIP code.
Finding the District That Covers Your Address
Go to uscourts.gov and open the court finder tool. Enter a street address, city, state, or ZIP code, and the tool returns the district court with jurisdiction over that location along with a link to that court’s website, where the clerk’s office contact information and local rules live.
Once you have the district name, check whether it is split into divisions. Many district courts group their counties into two or more divisions, each with its own courthouse. Most district court websites publish a county-by-county lookup or a divisional map. Filing in the wrong division within the right district can land your case in a courthouse hours from the relevant one, so this second step matters as much as the first.
How the 94 Districts Are Drawn
Congress defines every district boundary by statute in 28 U.S.C. §§ 81 through 131, listing each county assigned to each district.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. Chapter 5 – District Courts Each county belongs to exactly one district and one division, so there is never ambiguity about which federal court covers a particular address.
District lines follow state borders. A district can cover an entire state or only part of one, but it will not pull in counties from a neighboring state. Smaller or less populated states typically make up a single district; Wyoming is one example. Larger states are carved into multiple districts to handle heavier caseloads. Texas, New York, and California each have four: Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western. Within a multi-district state, divisions further group counties around specific courthouses.
Each district court has the power to hear cases involving federal law, constitutional questions, and disputes between residents of different states where more than $75,000 is at stake.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1332 – Diversity of Citizenship; Amount in Controversy; Costs A bankruptcy court sits within each district to handle filings under the federal bankruptcy code.
District of Columbia and the Territories
The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico each operate their own federal judicial districts and appear alongside the state-based districts in the same chapter of the U.S. Code.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. Chapter 5 – District Courts Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands also have district courts that hear federal cases, but those territorial courts are established under different statutory authority. Guam’s court is created under Title 48, and its judges serve fixed terms rather than the life tenure Article III gives judges in the 50 states and D.C.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 48 U.S.C. 1424b – Judge of District Court of Guam That is why territorial courts sometimes appear in a separate category on court maps.
Whether Your District Is the Right Venue
Knowing which district covers your county is only step one. You do not always file where you live. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391, a civil lawsuit can generally be brought in:
- A district where any defendant resides, if all defendants live in the same state.
- A district where a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred.
- If neither option works, a district where any defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction.
These rules come from the federal venue statute.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. Chapter 87 – District Courts; Venue Filing in the wrong district carries a real cost. If venue is improper, the court must either dismiss the case or, if justice requires, transfer it to a district where it could have been filed.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S.C. 1406 – Cure or Waiver of Defects Even when venue is technically proper, a court can transfer the case to a more convenient district if doing so serves the interests of justice and the convenience of the parties and witnesses.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1404 – Change of Venue
Suing a Business
Venue works differently when the defendant is a corporation or other entity. That defendant is treated as residing in any district where it is subject to personal jurisdiction. In a state with multiple districts, the corporation resides in the district where its contacts would be enough to establish jurisdiction if that district were its own state. If no single district clears that bar, the corporation resides in the district where it has the most significant contacts.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1391 – Venue Generally A national company may be open to suit in many districts at once, and matching the map to the corporate contacts is how you narrow the list.
Finding a Case Already on the Map
If a federal case has already been filed and you want to locate it, the PACER Case Locator is the national index across all federal district, bankruptcy, and appellate courts. You can search by party name to see whether someone is involved in federal litigation and which district holds the case.8United States Courts. Find a Case (PACER) For the full docket and real-time filings, log into the specific district court’s system directly.
Federal Courts That Do Not Appear on the District Map
A handful of specialized federal courts have nationwide jurisdiction and are not tied to any county on the district map. If your case falls into one of these categories, the map will not point you to the right court.
- The U.S. Court of Federal Claims hears monetary claims against the federal government, including tax refund disputes, government contract claims, federal employee pay disputes, takings of private property, and vaccine injury cases under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Act.9United States Courts. U.S. Court of Federal Claims – Judicial Business 2023
- The U.S. Court of International Trade handles civil cases arising under customs and international trade laws. It has nationwide reach and sits in New York City.10United States Court of International Trade. Court of International Trade
For the ordinary run of federal cases, though, including criminal prosecutions, civil rights claims, contract disputes between private parties, and diversity personal injury suits, the 94-district map is where the case belongs. Identify the district that covers the relevant county, confirm the venue rules under § 1391 fit your facts, and check the division within that district before you file.