United States District Court for the District of Maine


The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine is the U.S. district court for the state of Maine. The District of Maine was one of the original thirteen district courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, even though Maine was not a separate state from Massachusetts until 1820. The court is headquartered at the Edward T. Gignoux United States Courthouse in Portland, Maine and has a second courthouse in Bangor, Maine.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine represents the United States in criminal and civil litigation before the court. Halsey Frank was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine on October 3, 2017.
Appeals from the District of Maine are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

History

The District of Maine was one of the thirteen original districts created on September 24, 1789, by the Judiciary Act of 1789,. At the time, Maine was part of the state of Massachusetts. As with other jurisdictions of the time, the District of Maine was originally assigned a single judgeship. Not being assigned to a judicial circuit, it was granted the same jurisdiction as the United States circuit court, except in appeals and writs of error, which were the jurisdiction of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts. The circuit court jurisdiction of the District of Maine was repealed on February 13, 1801 by 2 Stat. 89, and restored on March 8, 1802 by. On March 30, 1820, shortly after Maine entered the Union, the District of Maine was assigned to the First Circuit and its internal circuit court jurisdiction was again repealed by. A second judgeship was authorized on October 20, 1978, by,, and a third was authorized on December 1, 1990, by.

Current judges


Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats