United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California is one of four federal district court jurisdictions in the State of California. The others are the Central, Southern, and Northern Districts.
This District was created in March 1966, with the division of the Northern and Southern districts, which led to the creation of the Central and Eastern districts.
Federal district courts have the power to preside over cases for federal crimes, as well as civil actions of diverse citizenship, questions about Constitutional law, and other matters allocated by jurisdictional rule (e.g., patents, copyrights).
The Eastern District covers the largest geographical area of the four districts in California. The main divisional offices are in Sacramento and Fresno, with outlying magistrate judges in Yosemite, Redding, and Bakersfield.
Court for the Eastern District is held at the Robert E. Coyle U.S. Courthouse in Fresno and Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento.
Phillip A. Talbert is the Attorney for the United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California, which has about 90 lawyers with offices in Sacramento, Fresno, and Bakersfield.
The Clerk's Office for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California is open in Sacramento and Fresno from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday – Friday, excluding holidays.
About the Eastern District of California
Geographically speaking, the Eastern District of California is the largest of the four federal districts, extending from north to south from the Oregon border to the Tehachapi and east to west from the Coastal Range to the Nevada Border.
This vast area encompassing 34 counties is presided over by six full-time federal judge positions, along with six senior judges and ten federal magistrates.
The Eastern District is divided into two main divisions, Sacramento and Fresno. Three additional offices hear federal misdemeanor and petty offenses presided over by magistrate judges in Bakersfield, Redding, and Yosemite National Park.
The Sacramento Division serves the following counties:
- Alpine
- Amador
- Butte
- Colusa
- El Dorado
- Glenn
- Lassen
- Modoc
- Mono
- Nevada
- Placer
- Plumas
- Sacramento
- San Joaquin
- Shasta
- Sierra
- Siskiyou
- Solano
- Sutter
- Tehama
- Trinity
- Yolo
- Yuba
The Fresno Division serves the following counties:
- Calaveras
- Fresno
- Inyo
- Kern
- Kings
- Madera
- Mariposa
- Merced
- Stanislaus
- Fulare
- Tuolumne
Federal District Court Locations
Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse
501 I Street, Room 4-200
Sacramento, CA 95814
Business Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
Phone: (916) 930-4000
Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse
2500 Tulare Street, Room 1501
Fresno, CA 93721
Business Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
Phone: (559) 499-5600
Redding Federal Courthouse
2986 Bechelli Lane
Redding, CA 96002
Phone: (530) 246-5416
Redding Office hears minor cases occurring in National Parks and on federal lands.
Bakersfield Federal Courthouse
510 19th Street, Suite 200
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: (661) 326-6620
Bakersfield Office hears minor cases occurring in National Parks and on federal lands in Inyo and Kern counties.
Yosemite Federal Courthouse
9004 Castle Cliff Court
Yosemite, CA 95389
Phone: (209) 372-0320
Yosemite Office hears minor cases occurring in Yosemite National Park.
Federal Judges for the Eastern District
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California is presided over by six full-time federal judges appointed for life. These judges are nominated by the current President and must be confirmed by the Senate.
The current active judges in the Eastern District are:
- Kimberly Mueller (Chief Judge)
- Dale A. Drozd
- Kimberly Mueller
- Troy L. Nunley
- Jennifer L. Thurston
- Ana I. de Alba
To assist with the caseload, the Eastern District Court has six senior judges and ten magistrate judges.
Senior judges are federal judges who can retire after reaching a certain age and completing at least 15 years of service, but they continue to hear cases voluntarily.
Magistrate judges are lower-level judges who are elected to eight-year renewable terms. While their duties may differ, they're generally assigned specific tasks by active federal Judges to help with court proceedings or to hear misdemeanor and petty criminal offenses.
Chief judges have administrative responsibilities regarding their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where only one justice is nominated to be chief, the chief judges rotate with the district court judges.
To be a chief judge, they must be in active service on the court for at least one year, be under 65, and have no prior service as a chief judge.
If there is a vacancy, it will be filled by a qualified judge with the highest seniority. All chief judges serve a term of seven years or up until 70, whichever occurs first. Suppose there are no other qualified members in the court for the position. In that case, the age restriction will be waived.
How the Federal District Courts Work
The 94 federal district courts throughout the United States serve as the trial courts for the federal court system.
These courts are responsible for hearing criminal and civil cases related to U.S. federal law and Constitutional issues, including intellectual property, patents, antitrust claims, and more.
Federal courts also hear cases for various federal crimes, such as terrorism, tax evasion, counterfeiting, interstate drug trafficking, etc.
Adverse decisions in the Eastern District of California may be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals at the San Francisco location. Title 18 U.S. Code Chapter 211 lists the rules regarding jurisdiction and venue for federal criminal cases.
At Eisner Gorin, our criminal defense lawyers represent defendants charged with one or more federal crimes.
We regularly appear in front of federal judges at the United States District Court judges for the Eastern District of California. We have years of experience handling misdemeanors and felonies at the federal level.
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