§ 112. — New York.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 28USC112]
TITLE 28--JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
PART I--ORGANIZATION OF COURTS
CHAPTER 5--DISTRICT COURTS
Sec. 112. New York
New York is divided into four judicial districts to be known as the
Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of New York.
Northern District
(a) The Northern District comprises the counties of Albany, Broome,
Cayuga, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex,
Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison,
Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saint
Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster,
Warren, and Washington.
Court for the Northern District shall be held at Albany, Auburn,
Binghamton, Malone, Syracuse, Utica, and Watertown.
Southern District
(b) The Southern District comprises the counties of Bronx, Dutchess,
New York, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester and
concurrently with the Eastern District, the waters within the Eastern
District.
Court for the Southern District shall be held at New York, White
Plains, and in the Middletown-Wallkill area of Orange
County or such nearby location as may be deemed
appropriate.
Eastern District
(c) The Eastern District comprises the counties of Kings, Nassau,
Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk and concurrently with the Southern
District, the waters within the counties of Bronx and New York.
Court for the Eastern District shall be held at Brooklyn,
Hauppauge, Hempstead (including the village of
Uniondale), and Central Islip.
Western District
(d) The Western District comprises the counties of Allegany,
Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe,
Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming,
and Yates.
Court for the Western District shall be held at Buffalo,
Canandaigua, Elmira, Jamestown, and Rochester.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 885; Pub. L. 90-217, Dec. 18, 1967, 81
Stat. 662; Pub. L. 91-546, Sec. 1, Dec. 14, 1970, 84 Stat. 1412; Pub. L.
95-271, Sec. 1, Apr. 28, 1978, 92 Stat. 221; Pub. L. 95-408, Sec. 4(c),
Oct. 2, 1978, 92 Stat. 885; Pub. L. 95-573, Sec. 3, Nov. 2, 1978, 92
Stat. 2458; Pub. L. 98-620, title IV, Sec. 405, Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat.
3361; Pub. L. 101-650, title III, Sec. 324(a)(2), Dec. 1, 1990, 104
Stat. 5120; Pub. L. 104-317, title VI, Sec. 609, Oct. 19, 1996, 110
Stat. 3860; Pub. L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(1) [title III,
Sec. 306], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A-37.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Secs. 178 and 178a (Mar. 3,
1911, ch. 231, Sec. 97, 36 Stat. 1119; Jan. 21, 1920, ch. 50, 41 Stat.
394; July 1, 1922, ch. 260, 42 Stat. 812; Aug. 12, 1937, ch. 591, 50
Stat. 623).
A reference in section 178 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., to
Franklin County in the list of Counties in the Northern District, in
which one term might be held annually, in the discretion of the judge,
was omitted as superseded by the provisions of said section 178a of
title 28, requiring an annual term to be held at Malone, which is in
Franklin County.
References to seizures made, matters done and processes or orders
issued respecting waters within the concurrent jurisdiction of the
southern and eastern districts, were omitted as unnecessary and covered
by the revised language.
Provision for 20 days' notice of the special term authorized in the
discretion of the court in the counties of Clinton, Jefferson, Onondaga,
Oswego, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, and Schenectady was omitted
as unnecessary, in view of section 141 of this title providing for such
notice as the district judge orders.
The special provision permitting any district judge in New York to
act as judge in any other district in that State upon request of the
resident district judge was omitted, thus making applicable the uniform
procedure for designation and assignment of district judges throughout
the United States, provided by section 292 of this title.
Words ``with the waters thereof'' after the list of counties in each
district were omitted as unnecessary and inconsistent with other
sections of this chapter.
The provisions with reference to the return of process in admiralty
cases, the designation of judges and their powers, and the holding of
sessions for the hearing of motions and for proceedings in bankruptcy
and admiralty, were omitted as unnecessary and more properly the subject
of rule of court.
The provisions of sections 178 and 178a of title 28, U.S.C., 1940
ed., respecting court accommodations at Malone and in the counties of
Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Onondaga, St. Lawrence, Clinton,
Jefferson, Oswego, and Franklin, were omitted as covered by section 142
of this title.
The county of Bronx, in the southern district, was formed out of a
part of New York County in 1912.
Lockport was omitted as a place of holding court in the Western
District. Court has not been held there for 32 years.
Changes were made in arrangement and phraseology.
Amendments
1999--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106-113 amended last sentence generally.
Prior to amendment, last sentence read as follows: ``Court for the
Eastern District shall be held at Brooklyn, Hauppauge, and Hempstead
(including the village of Uniondale).''
1996--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104-317 amended last sentence generally,
substituting ``Court for the Southern District shall be held at New
York, White Plains, and in the Middletown-Wallkill area of Orange County
or such nearby location as may be deemed appropriate.'' for ``Court for
the Southern District shall be held at New York and White Plains.''
1990--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101-650 substituted ``Utica, and
Watertown'' for ``and Utica''.
1984--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98-620 provided for holding court at
Hauppauge.
1978--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95-408, Sec. 4(c)(1), added counties of
Columbia, Greene, and Ulster to those counties comprising the Northern
District of New York.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95-573 provided for holding court at White
Plains.
Pub. L. 95-408, Sec. 4(c)(2), struck out Columbia, Greene, and
Ulster from those counties comprising the Southern District of New York.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95-271 substituted ``and Hempstead (including
the village of Uniondale)'' for ``Mineola, and Westbury''.
1970--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 91-546 provided for holding court at
Westbury.
1967--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 90-217 provided for holding court at
Mineola.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98-620 effective Jan. 1, 1985, and not to
affect the composition, or preclude the service, of any grand or petit
jury summoned, impaneled, or actually serving on that date, see section
411 of Pub. L. 98-620, set out as a note under section 85 of this title.
Effective Date of 1978 Amendment; Savings Provision
Amendment by Pub. L. 95-408 effective 180 days after Oct. 2, 1978,
with such amendment not to affect the composition or preclude the
service of any grand or petit juror summoned, empaneled, or actually
serving in any judicial district on the effective date of this Act, see
section 5 of Pub. L. 95-408, set out as a note under section 89 of this
title.
Pretermission of Regular Session of Court at Hempstead and Holding of
Special Session at Westbury; Procedures Applicable, Appropriations, Etc.
Sections 2 to 5 of Pub. L. 95-271 provided that:
``Sec. 2. The United States District Court for the Eastern District
of New York, by order made anywhere within its district, may pretermit
the regular session of court at Hempstead until Federal quarters and
accommodations are available and ready for occupancy, except that for
the entire period and such pretermission, a special session of the court
shall be held at Westbury. Pretermission may be ordered without regard
to the provisions of section 140(a) of title 28, United States Code.
``Sec. 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 142 of title 28,
United States Code, the Administrator of General Services, at the
request of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts, shall continue to provide existing quarters and
accommodations at Westbury for the duration of the special session held
pursuant to section 2 of this Act. Appropriations to the judicial branch
of Government shall be available to the Director to make necessary
disbursements for such quarters and accommodations, and to pay user
charges as required by section 210 of the Federal Property and
Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 490) [see now
40 U.S.C. 586, 587], at rates otherwise authorized by law.
``Sec. 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 456 of title 28,
United States Code, any judge, and any officer or employee of the
judicial branch, whose official station is, on the day before the date
of enactment of this Act [Apr. 28, 1978], Westbury, may maintain that
official station for the duration of the special session held pursuant
to section 2 of this Act.
``Sec. 5. The Director of the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts may pay travel and transportation expenses in accordance
with subchapter II, chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, to any
officer or employee of the judicial branch whose official station
changes as a consequence of this Act [enacting this provision and
amending subsec. (c) of this section] and who relocates his residence
incident to such change of official station.''
