The New International Encyclopædia/District Court

DISTRICT COURT. A court having a jurisdiction limited to a defined judicial district. Several of the United States have divided their territory into judicial districts, but the court of the district is usually a branch or ‘term’ of the highest court of original jurisdiction of the State and not a separate tribunal.

The District Courts of the United States, however, are district tribunals subordinate to the circuit courts. Each of the nine judicial circuits (corresponding to the number of justices of the Supreme Court) is divided into a larger or smaller number of districts. In some instances a district embraces the whole territory of a State; in others, States are divided into two or more districts. In one instance a single judge serves three districts, in others two. With these exceptions, there is one judge for each district. When a circuit court is held within the limits of a judicial district, the district judge sits with the judge of the Supreme Court appointed for that circuit. See Court, subdivision United States Courts.