
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 28USC124]

 
               TITLE 28--JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
 
                     PART I--ORGANIZATION OF COURTS
 
                       CHAPTER 5--DISTRICT COURTS
 
Sec. 124. Texas

    Texas is divided into four judicial districts to be known as the 
Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas.

                            Northern District

    (a) The Northern District comprises seven divisions.

        (1) The Dallas Division comprises the counties of Dallas, Ellis, 
                     Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, and Rockwall.

             Court for the Dallas Division shall be held at Dallas.

        (2) The Fort Worth Division comprises the counties of Comanche, 
                  Erath, Hood, Jack, Palo Pinto, Parker, Tarrant, and 
                                          Wise.

         Court for the Fort Worth Division shall be held at Fort Worth.

          (3) The Abilene Division comprises the counties of Callahan, 
                  Eastland, Fisher, Haskell, Howard, Jones, Mitchell, 
                  Nolan, Shackleford, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor, and 
                                      Throckmorton.

            Court for the Abilene Division shall be held at Abilene.

          (4) The San Angelo Division comprises the counties of Brown, 
                   Coke, Coleman, Concho, Crockett, Glasscock, Irion, 
                 Menard, Mills, Reagan, Runnels, Schleicher, Sterling, 
                                 Sutton, and Tom Green.

         Court for the San Angelo Division shall be held at San Angelo.

         (5) The Amarillo Division comprises the counties of Armstrong, 
                   Brisco, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth, 
                   Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, 
                    Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, 
                  Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, 
                             Sherman, Swisher, and Wheeler.

           Court for the Amarillo Division shall be held at Amarillo.

        (6) The Wichita Falls Division comprises the counties of Archer, 
                   Baylor, Clay, Cottle, Foard, Hardeman, King, Knox, 
                        Montague, Wichita, Wilbarger, and Young.

         Court for the Wichita Falls Division shall be held at Wichita 
                                         Falls.

           (7) The Lubbock Division comprises the counties of Bailey, 
                Borden, Cochran, Crosby, Dawson, Dickens, Floyd, Gaines, 
                Garza, Hale, Hockley, Kent, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, 
                               Scurry, Terry, and Yoakum.

            Court for the Lubbock Division shall be held at Lubbock.

                            Southern District

    (b) The Southern District comprises seven divisions.

         (1) The Galveston Division comprises the counties of Brazoria, 
                           Chambers, Galveston, and Matagorda.

          Court for the Galveston Division shall be held at Galveston.

           (2) The Houston Division comprises the counties of Austin, 
                 Brazos, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Grimes, Harris, 
                 Madison, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker, Waller, and 
                                        Wharton.

            Court for the Houston Division shall be held at Houston.

         (3) The Laredo Division comprises the counties of Jim Hogg, La 
                           Salle, McMullen, Webb, and Zapata.

             Court for the Laredo Division shall be held at Laredo.

         (4) The Brownsville Division comprises the counties of Cameron 
                                      and Willacy.

        Court for the Brownsville Division shall be held at Brownsville.

          (5) The Victoria Division comprises the counties of Calhoun, 
                 DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca, Refugio, and Victoria.

           Court for the Victoria Division shall be held at Victoria.

           (6) The Corpus Christi Division comprises the counties of 
                Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, 
                           Live Oak, Nueces, and San Patricio.

         Court for the Corpus Christi Division shall be held at Corpus 
                                        Christi.

         (7) The McAllen Division comprises the counties of Hidalgo and 
                                         Starr.

            Court for the McAllen Division shall be held at McAllen.

                            Eastern District

    (c) The Eastern District comprises seven divisions.

           (1) The Tyler Division comprises the counties of Anderson, 
                Cherokee, Gregg, Henderson, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Smith, 
                                  Van Zandt, and Wood.

                 Court for Tyler Division will be held at Tyler.

          (2) The Beaumont Division comprises the counties of Hardin, 
                     Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, and Orange.

           Court for the Beaumont Division is to be held at Beaumont.

        (3) The Sherman Division comprises the counties of Collin, Cook, 
                                  Denton, and Grayson.

            Court for the Sherman Division shall be held at Sherman.

        (4) The Paris Division comprises the counties of Delta, Fannin, 
                             Hopkins, Lamar, and Red River.

              Court for the Paris Division shall be held at Paris.

        (5) The Marshall Division comprises the counties of Camp, Cass, 
                          Harrison, Marion, Morris, and Upshur.

           Court for the Marshall Division shall be held at Marshall.

          (6) The Texarkana Division comprises the counties of Bowie, 
                                  Franklin, and Titus.

          Court for the Texarkana Division shall be held at Texarkana.

          (7) The Lufkin Division comprises the counties of Angelina, 
                   Houston, Nacogdoches, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, 
                               Shelby, Trinity, and Tyler.

             Court for the Lufkin Division shall be held at Lufkin.

                            Western District

    (d) The Western District comprises seven divisions.

           (1) The Austin Division comprises the counties of Bastrop, 
                  Blanco, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Gillespie, Hays, 
                  Kimble, Lampasas, Lee, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, San 
                        Saba, Travis, Washington, and Williamson.

             Court for the Austin Division shall be held at Austin.

         (2) The Waco Division comprises the counties of Bell, Bosque, 
                    Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Hill, Leon, 
                  Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Robertson, and Somervell.

               Court for the Waco Division shall be held at Waco.

            (3) The El Paso Division comprises the county of El Paso.

            Court for the El Paso Division shall be held at El Paso.

        (4) The San Antonio Division comprises the counties of Atascosa, 
                     Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, 
                  Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, Real, and 
                                         Wilson.

        Court for the San Antonio Division shall be held at San Antonio.

          (5) The Del Rio Division comprises the counties of Edwards, 
                   Kinney, Maverick, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, and 
                                        Zavalla.

            Court for the Del Rio Division shall be held at Del Rio.

           (6) The Pecos Division comprises the counties of Brewster, 
                    Culberson, Jeff Davis, Hudspeth, Loving, Pecos, 
                           Presidio, Reeves, Ward and Winkler.

              Court for the Pecos Division shall be held at Pecos.

           (7) The Midland-Odessa Division comprises the counties of 
                   Andrews, Crane, Ector, Martin, Midland, and Upton.

        Court for the Midland-Odessa Division shall be held at Midland. 
                 Court may be held, in the discretion of the court, in 
                Odessa, when courtroom facilities are made available at 
                              no expense to the Government.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 891; Feb. 10, 1954, ch. 6, 
Sec. 2(b)(9)(a), (b), 68 Stat. 11; Pub. L. 85-298, Secs. 1, 2, Sept. 4, 
1957, 71 Stat. 618; Pub. L. 87-352, Oct. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 772; Pub. L. 
88-282, Mar. 11, 1964, 78 Stat. 163; Pub. L. 88-512, Aug. 30, 1964, 78 
Stat. 695; Pub. L. 90-216, Dec. 18, 1967, 81 Stat. 661; Pub. L. 96-462, 
Sec. 6, Oct. 15, 1980, 94 Stat. 2054; Pub. L. 98-620, title IV, 
Sec. 407(a), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3362.)


                      Historical and Revision Notes

    Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 189 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 
231, Sec. 108, 36 Stat. 1125; May 29, 1912, ch. 144, 37 Stat. 120; Feb. 
5, 1913, ch. 28, Secs. 1, 2, 37 Stat. 663; Feb. 26, 1917, ch. 122, 39 
Stat. 939; Mar. 1, 1919, ch. 87, 40 Stat. 1270; Mar. 2, 1923, ch. 172, 
Secs. 1, 2, 42 Stat. 1373; Apr. 3, 1924, ch. 82, 43 Stat. 64; May 29, 
1924, ch. 211, Secs. 1, 2, 43 Stat. 244; May 26, 1928, ch. 752, Sec. 1, 
45 Stat. 747; June 6, 1930, ch. 408, 46 Stat. 521; June 24, 1930, ch. 
596, 46 Stat. 807; Feb. 20, 1932, ch. 51, 47 Stat. 52; July 25, 1939, 
ch. 356, Sec. 1, 53 Stat. 1082; June 6, 1940, ch. 252, 54 Stat. 241.)
    Words ``and all prosecutions against persons for offenses committed 
in the county of Reagan shall be tried in the court at San Angelo: 
Provided, That no civil or criminal cause begun and pending prior to May 
29, 1924, shall be in any way affected,'' words ``and all prosecutions 
against persons for offenses committed in the county of Pecos shall be 
tried in the district court at El Paso, or Pecos City: Provided, That no 
civil or criminal cause begun and pending prior to March 2, 1923, shall 
be in any way affected,'' and words ``Provided, That no civil or 
criminal cause commenced prior to June 24, 1930, shall be in any way 
affected,'' were all deleted as superseded by Federal Rules of Criminal 
Procedure, Rules 18-22, and as obsolete, in view of the lapse of time 
after the dates included in such provisions.
    Provisions for furnishing rooms and accommodations at Pecos and 
Wichita Falls were omitted as obsolete, on advice of the Director of the 
Administrative Office of the United States Courts that Federal 
accommodations are now available at such places.
    Provisions relating to the maintenance of offices at various cities 
by the clerks were omitted as covered by sections 452 and 751 of this 
title.
    Provisions that process against residents of Pecos County shall 
issue from and be returnable to the court at Pecos City and against 
residents of Reagan County at San Angelo, were omitted since such matter 
can be regulated more appropriately by court rule or order. (See Rule 4 
of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.)
    The provisions requiring notice to be given for time of holding 
court in Pecos division and at Corpus Christi, were omitted as covered 
by section 141 of this title.
    Five counties included in this section were created since the 
enactment of section 189 of title 28. These were Kleberg County and 
Kenedy County of the Corpus Christi division of the southern district, 
Culberson County and Hudspeth County of the El Paso division of the 
western district, and Real County of the San Antonio division of the 
western district. Pecos County is included in the Pecos division and 
omitted from the El Paso division of the western district to conform to 
the practice of the court.
    Changes in arrangement and phraseology were made.


                               Amendments

    1984--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98-620, Sec. 407(a)(1), substituted 
``seven'' for ``six'' in provisions preceding par. (1).
    Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 98-620, Sec. 407(a)(2), struck out 
references to Hidalgo and Starr counties from the counties comprising 
the Brownsville Division of the Southern District.
    Subsec. (b)(7). Pub. L. 98-620, Sec. 407(a)(3), added par. (7).
    1980--Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 96-462, Sec. 6(a), struck out 
references to Polk and Trinity counties in list of counties comprising 
Houston Division of Southern District.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96-462, Sec. 6(b), in provisions preceding par. 
(1) substituted ``seven'' for ``six''; in par. (1) struck out references 
to Angelina, Houston, Nacogdoches, and Shelby counties in list of 
counties comprising Tyler Division of Eastern District; in par. (2) 
struck out references to Sabine, San Augustine, and Tyler counties in 
list of counties comprising Beaumont Division of Eastern District; and 
added par. (7).
    1967--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 90-216, Sec. 1(4), enlarged from six to 
seven the number of divisions comprising Western District.
    Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 90-216, Sec. 1(1), transferred counties of 
Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, and Presidio from El Paso Division to 
Pecos Division.
    Subsec. (d)(6). Pub. L. 90-216, Sec. 1(2), added counties of 
Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, and Presidio to Pecos Division from El 
Paso Division, and transferred counties of Andrews, Crane, Ector, 
Martin, Midland, and Upton from Pecos Division to Midland-Odessa 
Division.
    Subsec. (d)(7). Pub. L. 90-216, Sec. 1(3), added par. (7), which 
created Midland-Odessa Division, comprised of counties of Andrews, 
Crane, Ector, Martin, Midland, and Upton, transferred from Pecos 
Division.
    1964--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 88-282, Sec. 1(a), struck out Austin, 
Fort Bend, and Wharton counties from list comprising Galveston Division.
    Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 88-282, Sec. 1(b), added Austin, Fort Bend, 
and Wharton counties to list comprising Houston Division.
    Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 88-512, Sec. 1(a), added county of Hopkins 
to Paris Division.
    Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 88-512, Sec. 1(b), struck out county of 
Hopkins from Marshall Division.
    1961--Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 87-352 changed the name of Division 
from Jefferson to Marshall, and provided for holding court at Marshall.
    1957--Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 85-298, Sec. 2, inserted Shelby County 
in list of counties comprising Tyler Division.
    Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 85-298, Sec. 1, struck out Shelby County 
from list of counties comprising Beaumont Division.
    1954--Subsec. (d)(4). Act Feb. 10, 1954, Sec. 2(b)(9)(a), struck out 
Edwards County from list of counties comprising San Antonio Division of 
Western District.
    Subsec. (d)(5). Act Feb. 10, 1954, Sec. 2(b)(9)(b), inserted Edwards 
County in list of counties comprising Del Rio Division of Western 
District.


                    Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

    Section 407(b) of Pub. L. 98-620 provided that: ``The amendments 
made by subsection (a) of this section [amending this section] shall 
apply to any action commenced in the United States District Court for 
the Southern District of Texas on or after the effective date of this 
subtitle [Jan. 1, 1985], and shall not affect any action pending in such 
court on such effective date.''
    Amendment by Pub. L. 98-620 effective Jan. 1, 1985, and not to 
affect the composition, or preclude the service, of any grand or petit 
jury summoned, impaneled, or actually serving on that date, see section 
411 of Pub. L. 98-620, set out as a note under section 85 of this title.


           Effective Date of 1980 Amendment; Savings Provision

    Amendment by Pub. L. 96-462 effective Oct. 1, 1981, but not to 
affect the composition or preclude the service of any grand or petit 
juror summoned, empaneled, or actually serving in any judicial district 
on Oct. 1, 1981, see section 7 of Pub. L. 96-462, set out as a note 
under section 84 of this title.
