United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
| United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | |
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| (S.D. Tex.) | |
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| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Appeals to | Fifth Circuit |
| Established | March 11, 1902 |
| Judges assigned | 19 |
| Chief Judge | Lee H. Rosenthal |
| Official court website | |
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (in case citations, S.D. Tex.) is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over the southern part of Texas. The court's headquarters is in Houston, Texas and has six additional offices in the district.
Appeals from cases brought in the Southern District of Texas are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
The current Acting United States Attorney is Abe Martinez.
Since its foundation, the Southern District of Texas has been served by forty-one District Judges and six Clerks of Court. The first federal judge in Texas was John C. Watrous, who was appointed on May 26, 1846, and had previously served as Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He was assigned to hold court in Galveston, at the time, the largest city in the state. As seat of the Texas Judicial District, the Galveston court had jurisdiction over the whole state. On February 21, 1857, the state was divided into two districts, Eastern and Western, with Judge Watrous continuing in the Eastern district. Judge Watrous and Judge Thomas H. DuVal, of the Western District of Texas, left the state on the secession of Texas from the Union, the only two United States Judges not to resign their posts in states that seceded. When Texas was restored to the Union, Watrous and DuVal resumed their duties and served until 1870. Judge Amos Morrill served in the Eastern District of Texas from 1872 to 1884. He was succeeded by Chauncy B. Sabin (1884 to 1890) and David E. Bryant (1890 to 1902). In 1902, when the Southern District was created by Act of Congress, Judge Bryant continued to serve in the Eastern District of Texas.
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