The United States District Court for the District of Hawaii (in

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

s, D. Haw.) is the principal

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review ( appellate courts). M ...

of the United States Federal Court System in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

. The court's territorial jurisdiction encompasses the state of Hawaii and the territories of Midway Atoll,

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the Sida fallax, kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, sou ...

, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef,

Palmyra Atoll Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way between Hawaii an ...

, Baker Island, Howland Island, and

Jarvis Island Jarvis Island (; formerly known as Bunker Island or Bunker's Shoal) is an uninhabited coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands. It is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the Uni ...

; it also occasionally handles (jointly with the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a United States district court, federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States Dist ...

and the High Court of American Samoa) federal issues that arise in the territory of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internation ...

, which has no local federal court or territorial court.https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-1124T GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office. AMERICAN SAMOA: Issues Associated with Some Federal Court Options. September 18, 2008. Retrieved September 7, 2019. It is located at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building in downtown Honolulu, fronting the Aloha Tower and Honolulu Harbor. The court hears both civil and criminal cases as a court of law and equity. A branch of the district court is the

United States Bankruptcy Court United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy c ...

which also has chambers in the federal building. 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: * Distri ...

has appellate jurisdiction over cases coming out of the District of Hawaii (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 sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...

claims and claims against the U.S. 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 ...

, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit). The United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii represents the United States in all civil and criminal cases within her district. the United States Attorney is

Clare E. Connors Clare Elizabeth Connors (born May 1974) is an American lawyer who has served as the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii since 2022. She served as the 16th attorney general of Hawaii from January 3, 2019 to December 10, 2021. She wa ...

History

When the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territories of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from Ap ...

was formed in 1900, jurisdiction was placed in 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: * Distric ...

. On March 18, 1959, when the District of Hawaii was formed, the district had two judgeships for the court. On July 10, 1984, a third judgeship was added, and a fourth was added on December 1, 1990.

Current judges

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

Judges of the United States District Court for the Territory of Hawaii

Prior to 1959, the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii was an Article IV tribunal in the

. The following is a partial list of Judges for that court.

"Recorder of Deeds" for the Territory of Palmyra Island

Since 1962, the court's clerk has filed or recorded the deeds and other land title documents for land located in the federal Territory of Palmyra Island, under ,

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of ...

No. 10967 and Order No. 2862 of the Secretary of the Interior.Secretary of the Interior Order No. 2862, ''Palmyra Island Land Recordation'', March 19, 1962, F. R. Doc. 62-2736.

Notes

External links

United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the District of Hawaii

Hawaii law Honolulu 1959 establishments in Hawaii Courthouses in Hawaii Courts and tribunals established in 1959