Washington is divided into two judicial districts to be known as the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington.
Eastern District
(a) The Eastern District comprises the counties of Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima.
Court for the Eastern District shall be held at Spokane, Yakima, Walla Walla, and Richland.
Western District
(b) The Western District comprises the counties of Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, and Whatcom.
Court for the Western District shall be held at Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma, Mount Vernon, and Vancouver.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 894; Pub. L. 87–699, Sept. 25, 1962, 76 Stat. 598; Pub. L. 91–272, § 4, June 2, 1970, 84 Stat. 297; Pub. L. 110–161, div. D, title III, § 308, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 1990; Pub. L. 118–73, § 2(b), July 30, 2024, 138 Stat. 1504.)
Historical and Revision NotesBased on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 193 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 112, 36 Stat. 1128; June 15, 1937, ch. 351, 50 Stat. 260; Dec. 28, 1945, ch. 596, 59 Stat. 661).
Words “with the waters thereof,” after the list of counties in each division, were omitted as unnecessary, and in view of the absence of such words in most similar sections relating to other States.
A provision relating to the maintenance of offices by the clerks were omitted as covered by section 751 of this title.
Provisions that the counties in both divisions of the eastern district included all Indian reservations in such counties and that the counties in both divisions of the western district included all Indian reservations in such counties were omitted as surplusage. (See Reviser’s Note under section 114 of this title.)
Pend Oreille County of the northern division of the eastern district and Grays Harbor of the southern division of the western district were created since the enactment of the Judicial Code.
Changes in arrangement and phraseology were made.
Editorial Notes
Amendments2024—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 118–73 inserted “Mount Vernon,” after “Tacoma,”.
2007—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 110–161 substituted “Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver” for “Bellingham, Seattle, and Tacoma”.
1970—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–272, § 4(a), struck out provisions which had divided Eastern District into a Northern Division and a Southern Division.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91–272, § 4(b), struck out provisions which had divided Western District into a Northern Division and a Southern Division.
1962—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 87–699 provided for holding court at Richland.