Title 28 › PART I — ORGANIZATION OF COURTS › CHAPTER 5 — DISTRICT COURTS › § 123
Tennessee is split into three federal court districts called the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts. Each district is broken into smaller divisions where federal courts meet. The Eastern District has four divisions with courts in Knoxville (Northern), Greeneville (Northeastern), Chattanooga (Southern), and Winchester (Winchester). The Middle District has three divisions with courts in Nashville (Nashville), Cookeville (Northeastern), and Columbia (Columbia). The Western District has two divisions: the Eastern Division (courts in Jackson and Dyersburg) covers many counties and also includes the waters of the Tennessee River up to the low-water mark on the eastern shore where that river forms the boundary between the Western and Middle Districts from the north line of Alabama north to the point in Henry County where Kentucky’s southern boundary meets the east bank of the river, and the Western Division has courts in Memphis. The district judge for the Eastern District who was in office on November 27, 1940 must hold court in the Northern and Northeastern Divisions. The other judge then in office must hold court in the Southern and Winchester Divisions. Each of those judges may appoint and remove court officers and employees whose official headquarters are in the divisions where that judge holds court, when the law gives that appointment power to a district or chief judge.
Full Legal Text
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
28 U.S.C. § 123
Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102