United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana


The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana is a United States federal court with jurisdiction over approximately two thirds of the state of Louisiana, with courts in Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Shreveport. These cities comprise the Western District of Louisiana.
Appeals from the Western District of Louisiana are taken to the United States [Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit].

Jurisdiction

The parishes in Louisiana|parishes] that fall under the jurisdiction of this district court are:

History

On March 26, 1804, Congress organized the Territory of Orleans and created the United States District Court for the District of Orleans – the only time Congress provided a territory with a district court equal in its authority and jurisdiction to those of the states. The United States District Court for the District of Louisiana was established on April 8, 1812, by, several weeks before Louisiana was formally admitted as a state of the union. The District was thereafter subdivided and reformed several times. It was first subdivided into United States District Court for the [Eastern District of Louisiana|Eastern] and Western Districts on March 3, 1823, by.
On February 13, 1845, Louisiana was reorganized into a single District with one judgeship, by, but was again divided into Eastern and the Western Districts on March 3, 1849, by. Congress again abolished the Western District of Louisiana and reorganized Louisiana as a single judicial district on July 27, 1866, by. On March 3, 1881, by, Louisiana was for a third time divided into Eastern and the Western Districts, with one judgeship authorized for each. The United States District Court for [the Middle District of Louisiana|Middle] District was formed from portions of those two Districts on December 18, 1971, by.

Current judges



U.S. attorneys

The complete list of United States attorneys in Louisiana, including those who served during territorial status: