What are the districts of the Court of Appeals? How does the district system work?
Though each judge on the Court of Appeals has statewide jurisdiction, the 15 judges were appointed to the Court from different corners of the state to ensure a geographical balance. The 1st District of the Court of Appeals encompasses the southern third of the state, the 2nd District the middle third, and the 3rd district the northern third. When in the late 1970s an increasing case load dictated adding judges to the Court, the legislature added one—and eventually two—statewide districts, consisting of one judge from each of the first three districts. There are therefore five judges from each of the three geographical districts on the Court of Appeals. Learn more about the district system.
