United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina


The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina is a United States district court with jurisdiction over 24 counties in the center of North Carolina. It consists of five divisions with a headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Appeals from the Middle District of North Carolina are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Jurisdiction

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has jurisdiction over 24 counties: Alamance, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Orange, Person, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Scotland, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin, with the exception of Federal Correctional Institution, Butner and Fort Bragg Military Reservation. The latter two institutions are considered entirely part of the Eastern District of North Carolina so as to avoid them being split between two different jurisdictions as they are situated in multiple counties.

History

The United States District Court for the District of North Carolina was established on June 4, 1790, by 1 Stat. 126. On June 9, 1794 it was subdivided into three districts by 1 Stat. 395, but on March 3, 1797, the three districts were abolished and the single District restored by 1 Stat. 517, until April 29, 1802, when the state was again subdivided into three different districts by 2 Stat. 156.
In both instances, these districts, unlike those with geographic designations that existed in other states, were titled by the names of the cities in which the courts sat. After the first division, they were styled the District of Edenton, the District of New Bern, and the District of Wilmington; after the second division, they were styled the District of Albemarle, the District of Cape Fear, and the District of Pamptico. However, in both instances, only one judge was authorized to serve all three districts, causing them to effectively operate as a single district. The latter combination was occasionally referred to by the cumbersome title of the United States District Court for the Albemarle, Cape Fear & Pamptico Districts of North Carolina.
On June 4, 1872, North Carolina was re-divided into two Districts, [United States District Court for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina|Eastern District of North Carolina|Eastern] and [United States District Court for the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina|Western District of North Carolina|Western], by 17 Stat. 215. The Middle District was created from portions of the Eastern and Western Districts on March 2, 1927, by 44 Stat. 1339. Shortly thereafter, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Johnson Jay Hayes by recess appointment to be the first judge of the Middle District of North Carolina.

Current judges



U.S. attorneys for the Middle District