The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case ci ...

s, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a Federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, making it the most populous federal judicial district. The district was created on September 18, 1966. Cases from the Central District are appealed to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

(except for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

claims and claims against the United States government under the

Tucker Act The Tucker Act (March 3, 1887, ch. 359, , ) is a federal statute of the United States by which the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits. The Tucker Act may be divided into the "Big" Tucker A ...

, which are appealed to the

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

). Along with the Central District of Illinois, the court is the only district court referred to by the name "Central" – all other courts with similar geographical names instead use the term "Middle."

History

California was admitted to the union on September 9, 1850, and was divided into two federal trial court districts - Northern and Southern - by Act of Congress on September 28, 1850, 9 Stat. 521. The boundary was at the 37th parallel.Willoughby Rodman, ''History of the Bench and Bar of Southern California'' (1909), p. 46. The two districts were merged as the

United States District Court for the District of California The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

on July 27, 1866 by 14 Stat. 300. On August 5, 1886, Congress re-created the Southern District by 24 Stat. 308, while the northern half was renamed Northern District. The

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and Central Districts of California were created on March 18, 1966 from portions of the Northern and Southern Districts by 80 Stat. 75.

Divisions

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California is divided into three divisions, with jurisdiction over seven counties:

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. The Eastern Division covers

and

Counties at the

courthouse. The Southern Division covers

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

from the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse in Santa Ana. The Western Division covers

, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties. Cases are heard in two courthouses in downtown Los Angeles. All but two district judges are located in the new First Street Courthouse, whereas magistrate judges and two district judges maintain chambers in the Edward R. Roybal Courthouse.

United States attorney for the Central District of California

The

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Central District of California represents the United States Government in civil and criminal cases before the court. , the United States attorney is E. Martin Estrada.

Current judges

Vacancies and pending nominations

On December 21, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Wesley Hsu and Mónica Ramírez Almadani to unspecified seats on the court.

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

List of U.S. Attorneys

*George J. Denis (1888–1889) *Aurelus H. Hutton (1889–1890) *Matthew T. Allen (1892–1893) *George J. Denis (1893–1897) *Frank P. Flint (1897–1901) *Louis H. Valentine (1901–1905) *Oscar Lawler (1905–1909) *Albert Schoonover (1913–1917) *J. Robert O’Conner (1917–1921) *Joseph C. Burke (1921–1925) *Samuel W. McNabb (1925–1933) *John Rose Laying (1933) *Peirson M. Hall (1933–1937) *Ben Harrison (1937–1940) *William Fleet Palmer (1940–1942) *Leo V. Silverstein (1942–943) *Charles H. Carr (1943–1946) *James M. Carter (1946–1949) *Ernest A. Tolin (1949–1951) *Walter Binns (1951–1953) * Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. (1953–1961) *Francis C. Whelan (1961–1964) *Thomas R. Sheridan (1962–1964) *Manuel L. Real (1964–1966)In 1966, the Central District of California was created from portions of the Southern District of California. *John K. Van de Kamp (1966–1967) *

William Matthew Byrne Jr. William Matthew Byrne Jr. (September 3, 1930 – January 14, 2006) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Education and career Born in Los Ang ...

(1967–1970) *

Robert L. Meyer Robert L. Meyer (September 12, 1923William D. Keller (1972–1977) *Robert L. Brosio (1977) (Acting) *Andrea S. Ordin (1977–1981) *Alexander H. Williams, III (1981) (Acting) * Stephen S. Trott (1981–1983) *Alexander H. Williams, III (1983–1984) *

Robert C. Bonner Robert Cleve Bonner (January 29, 1942) is an American lawyer and arbitration neutral, a former prosecutor, former United States District Judge, former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and former Commissioner of United States ...

(1984–1989) *

Gary Allen Feess Gary Allen Feess (born March 13, 1948) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Education and career Feess was born in Alliance, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(1989) *Robert L. Brosio (1989–1990) * Lourdes Baird (1990–1992) *Terree Bowers (1992–1994) *

Nora Margaret Manella Nora Margaret Manella (born January 22, 1951) is the Presiding Justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Four and a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Cal ...

(1994–1998) *

Alejandro Mayorkas Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas (born November 24, 1959) is a Cuban-American government official and attorney who has been serving as the seventh United States Secretary of Homeland Security since February 2, 2021. During the Obama administration, h ...

(1998–2001) *John S. Gordon (2001–2002) * Debra Wong Yang (2002–2006) *George S. Cardona (2006–2007) * Thomas P. O'Brien (2007–2009) *George S. Cardona (2009–2010) (Acting) * André Birotte Jr. (2010–2014) *Stephanie Yonekura (2014–2015) (Acting) * Eileen M. Decker (2015–2017) *Sandra R. Brown (2017–2018) (Acting) *

Nicola T. Hanna Nicola Taisir Hanna (born September 19, 1961) is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Central District of California#United States Attorney for the Central District, Central Dist ...

(2018–2021)

References

External links

United States District Court, Central District of California

United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the Central District of California California, Central California law Government in Orange County, California Government in Riverside County, California Government in Riverside, California Santa Ana, California 1966 establishments in California Courts and tribunals established in 1966