§ 123. Tennessee

Tennessee is divided into three judicial districts to be known as the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Tennessee.

Eastern District

(a) The Eastern District comprises four divisions.

(1) The Northern Division comprises the counties of Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott, Sevier, and Union.

Court for the Northern Division shall be held at Knoxville.

(2) The Northeastern Division comprises the counties of Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington.

Court for the Northeastern Division shall be held at Greenville.

(3) The Southern Division comprises the counties of Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Marion, Meigs, Polk, Rhea, and Sequatchie.

Court for the Southern Division shall be held at Chattanooga.

(4) The Winchester Division comprises the counties of Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Lincoln, Moore, Van Buren, and Warren.

Court for the Winchester Division shall be held at Winchester.

Middle District

(b) The Middle District comprises three divisions.

(1) The Nashville Division comprises the counties of Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, and Wilson.

Court for the Nashville Division shall be held at Nashville.

(2) The Northeastern Division comprises the counties of Clay, Cumberland, De Kalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, and White.

Court for the Northeastern Division shall be held at Cookeville.

(3) The Columbia Division comprises the counties of Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, and Wayne.

Court for the Columbia Division shall be held at Columbia.

Western District

(c) The Western District comprises two divisions.

(1) The Eastern Division comprises the counties of Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, McNairy, Madison, Obion, Perry, and Weakley.

The Eastern Division also includes the waters of Tennessee River to low-water mark on the eastern shore wherever such river forms the boundary between the western and middle districts from the north line of Alabama north to the point in Henry County, Tennessee, where the south boundary of Kentucky strikes the east bank of the river.

Court for the Eastern Division shall be held at Jackson and Dyersburg.

(2) The Western Division comprises the counties of Fayette, Lauderdale, Shelby, and Tipton.

Court for the Western Division shall be held at Memphis.

The district judge for the Eastern District in office on November 27, 1940, shall hold court in the Northern and Northeastern Divisions. The other judge of that district shall hold the terms of court in the Southern and Winchester Divisions. Each may appoint and remove all officers and employees of the court whose official headquarters are located in the divisions within which he holds court and whose appointments are vested by law in a district judge or chief judge of a district.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 890; Pub. L. 87–36, § 3(e), May 19, 1961, 75 Stat. 83; Pub. L. 87–86, July 11, 1961, 75 Stat. 203; Pub. L. 91–272, § 12, June 2, 1970, 84 Stat. 298; Pub. L. 110–406, § 2(a), Oct. 13, 2008, 122 Stat. 4291.)

Historical And Revision

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 188 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 107, 36 Stat. 1124; Aug. 20, 1912, ch. 306, 37 Stat. 314; June 22, 1916, ch. 161, 39 Stat. 232; Mar. 4, 1923, ch. 289, 42 Stat. 1520; May 17, 1926, ch. 310, 44 Stat. 561; Mar. 1, 1927, ch. 244, 44 Stat. 1262; May 13, 1932, ch. 179, 47 Stat. 153; June 16, 1933, ch. 94, 48 Stat. 253; July 30, 1937, ch. 539, 50 Stat. 546; June 12, 1940, ch. 341, 54 Stat. 348; Nov. 27, 1940, ch. 920, § 1, 54 Stat. 1216; Dec. 3, 1943, ch. 332, 57 Stat. 595).

Words “The said judge shall possess the same powers, perform the same duties, and receive the same compensation as other district judges,” and words, “The President is authorized to appoint, by and with the consent of the Senate, a successor or successors to said judge as vacancies may occur. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent said judge or his successors from becoming the senior district judge by succession, or from exercising the powers and rights of senior district judge of said district. The judge designated herein to hold regular and special terms of court at Winchester and Chattanooga shall make all necessary orders for the disposition of business and assignment of cases for trial in said divisions,” were deleted as superfluous, in view of sections 132 and 141 of this title.

Words “The district attorneys and marshals for the eastern, middle, and western districts of Tennessee in office immediately prior to November 27, 1940, shall be during the remainder of their present terms of office the district attorneys and marshals for such districts as constituted by this section. The district judge for the middle district of Tennessee shall be the district judge for the middle district of Tennessee as constituted by this section and shall hold regular and special terms of court at Nashville, Columbia, and Cookeville. The district judge for the western district of Tennessee shall hold regular and special terms of court at Memphis and Jackson,” at the end of the section, were deleted as temporary, and as superfluous, in view of the remainder of the section, prescribing the places for holding terms of court.

A provision for furnishing rooms and accommodations by the local authorities for holding court at Columbia “but only until such time as such accommodations shall be provided upon the recommendation of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts in a public building or other quarters provided by the Federal Government for such purpose,” was omitted on advice of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts that Federal accommodations are now available.

An identical provision with reference to Winchester is retained in part, but the words quoted above were omitted as unnecessary since, when such buildings become available, the Director will, under section 604 of this title, provide court accommodations therein.

The last paragraph of the revised section consolidates the provisions of paragraphs (e) and (f) of section 188 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating to the terms of court to be held in the two divisions of the eastern district by the two judges, and their respective powers of appointment of court officers and employees.

Provisions relating to appointment and residence of deputy marshals and maintenance of clerk’s office, were omitted as covered by sections 542 [see 561] and 751 of this title.

The clerk of court in a letter dated February 7, 1945, calls attention to a rule of court providing for hearing of all bankruptcy matters arising in Haywood County at Jackson in the eastern division of the western district.

The provision respecting court accommodations at Winchester was omitted as covered by section 142 of this title.

Changes in arrangement and phraseology were made.

Amendments

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 110–406, § 2(a)(1), inserted “Dyer,” after “Decatur,” and “and Dyersburg” after “Jackson”.

Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 110–406, § 2(a)(2), struck out “Dyer,” after “counties of” and “and Dyersburg” after “Memphis”.

1970—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 91–272, § 12(a), added Haywood County to the enumeration of counties comprising the Eastern Division of the Western District.

Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 91–272, § 12(b), struck out Haywood County from the enumeration of counties comprising the Western Division of the Western District.

1961—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 87–36, as amended by Pub. L. 87–86, provided for holding court at Dyersburg.

Effective Date Of Amendment

Effective Date of 2008 Amendment

Pub. L. 110–406, § 2(b), Oct. 13, 2008, 122 Stat. 4291, provided that:

“(1)In general.—The amendments made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 13, 2008].

“(2)Pending cases not affected.—The amendments made by this section shall not affect any action commenced before the effective date of this section and pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on such date.

“(3)Juries not affected.—The amendments made by this section shall not affect the composition, or preclude the service, of any grand or petit jury summoned, impaneled, or actually serving in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on the effective date of this section.”