United States District Court for the District of Columbia

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is the United States district court that hears cases originating in the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), over which federal courts have original jurisdiction. Cases dealing with the laws of the District of Columbia are heard by this court only under the same circumstances that would cause a case under state law to come before a federal court. Appeals from this court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The court was established by Congress in 1863 as the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, replacing the abolished circuit and district courts of the District of Columbia that had been in place since 1801. The court consisted of four justices, including a chief justice, and was granted the same powers and jurisdiction as the earlier circuit court. Any of the justices could convene a United States circuit court or a local criminal court. In 1936, Congress renamed the court the District Court for the District of Columbia. Its current name was adopted in 1948, and from then on justices were known as judges.

The court sits in the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse located on Constitution Avenue NW. The District has no local district attorney or equivalent, and so local prosecutorial matters also fall into the jurisdiction of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Assistant United States Attorneys are tasked with prosecution of not only federal crimes but also crimes that would normally be left to the state prosecutor's discretion. Because of this the District has the largest U.S. Attorney's Office in the nation, with around 250 AUSAs.

The current United States Attorney for the District of Columbia is Jeffrey A. Taylor.

Contact Information
Moultrie Courthouse 500 Indiana Ave., N.W. Washington D.C. 20001 Phone: (202) 879-1010