Information About the Location and Duties of the Massachusetts District Court

The U.S. Massachusetts District Court is a federal court having jurisdiction in the Massachusetts Commonwealth. The first session of the court was held in Boston in the year 1789 and the second was in Salem the following year. Until the year 1813, the sessions alternated between these two cities. It was in this same year that it was decided Boston would be the permanent residence of the court. The Western Division was established in 1979, and the Central Division came into existence in 1987.

The District Court System

Today, the Massachusetts District Court is one of 94 U.S. federal district courts spread over the 50 states plus territories. These are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil as well as criminal cases are filed in the District Court, and these courts are designated as a court of equity, law and admiralty.

There is a United States Bankruptcy Court that is associated with each United States District Court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse. There are many which have more than one.

District Court Jurisdiction

Some federal trial courts have nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of cases. For instance:

•    The U.S. Court of International Trade hears cases involving international trade and issues of customs.
•    The United States Federal Claims Court hears most claims for money against the United States, including disputes over federal contracts, unlawful takings of private property by the federal government, and suits for injury on federal property or by a federal employee.
•    The U.S. Tax Court hears contested pre-assessment determinations of taxes.

Federal District Courts have concurrent jurisdiction over many of those cases, and a federal District Court is the only one with jurisdiction over cases that are criminal in nature. In practice, about 80% of cases are civil and 20% are criminal.

The trial courts are U.S. District Courts, they are followed by U.S. Courts of Appeals of various Circuits, and finally there is the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Attorney's Offices for the respective federal districts represents the United States in criminal and civil litigation.

Finding the Massachusetts District Court

The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts exercises geographical jurisdiction over the state. Appeals from the District of Massachusetts are made to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. As of now, the Court has 13 assigned judges operating from Boston, Worcester and Springfield. In case you have queries to make, here are the contact locations:

•    Boston: John Joseph Moakley Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way, Suite 2300, Boston, Massachusetts 02210. 8:30am - 5:00pm. Phone: (617) 748-9152.
      http://www.mad.uscourts.gov/boston/boston-home.htm       
•    Worcester:  Donohue Federal Building, 595 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01608. 8:30am - 5:00pm. Phone: (508) 929-9900. 
      http://www.mad.uscourts.gov/worcester/worcester-home.htm
•    Springfield: United States Courthouse, 300 State Street, Suite 120, Springfield, Massachusetts 01105. 8:00am - 4:30pm. Phone: (413) 785-6800.
      http://www.mad.uscourts.gov/springfield/springfield-directions.htm

Today it has become mandatory to file and request most documents with the court electronically. To do so, all you need to do is visit the state legal website which is https://ecf.mad.uscourts.gov. You must ensure that you do not include, or if you do, partially redact, some personal data from filings. These include Social Security numbers, names of minor children, dates of birth, financial account numbers and home addresses (in criminal cases only). To learn more, look up Section (i) of the Administrative Procedures Governing the Filing and Service by Electronic Means at http://www.med.uscourts.gov/ecf/adminprocedures.htm.