United States District Court for the Southern District of California

The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was created on September 28, 1850, following the passage of the California Statehood Act on September 9, 1850. The state was divided into a Northern and Southern district. The Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 abolished the Northern and Southern districts, re-organizing California as a single circuit district. On August 5, 1886 the Southern district was re-established, following the division of the state into Northern and Southern districts. The district was further divided on March 18, 1966 with the creation of the Central and Eastern districts.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States attorney is Tara McGrath.

Organization of the court
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California is one of four federal district courts in California. Court for the District is held at El Centro and the Edward J. Schwartz U.S. Courthouse and U.S. Courthouse Annex in San Diego. The district comprises Imperial and San Diego counties.

List of U.S. attorneys
The U.S. Attorney is the chief law-enforcement officer for the district.
 * J. M. Jones (1850)
 * Alfred Wheeler (1851–1853)
 * Isaac S. K. Ogier (1853–1854)
 * Pacificus Ord (1854–1858)
 * J. R. Gitchell (1858–1861)
 * Kimball H. Dimmick (1861)
 * Billington C. Whiting (1861)
 * J. Marion Brooks (1887–1888)
 * George J. Davis (1888–1889)
 * Aurelius W. Hutton (1889–1890)
 * Willoughby Cole (1890–1892)
 * Matthew J. Allen (1892–1893)
 * George J. Denis (1893–1897)
 * Frank P. Flint (1897–1901)
 * L. H. Valentine (1901–1905)
 * Oscar Lawler (1905–1909)
 * Aloysuis McCormick (1909–1913)
 * Albert Schoonover (1913–1917)
 * John R. O'Connor (1917–1921)
 * Joseph C. Burke (1921–1925)
 * Samuel W. McNabb (1925–1933)
 * John R. Layng (1933)
 * Pierson M. Hall (1933–1937)
 * Benjamin Harrison (1937–1940)
 * William F. Palmer (1940–1942)
 * Leo W. Silverstein (1942–1943)
 * Charles H. Carr (1943–1946)
 * James M. Carter (1946–1949)
 * Ernest A. Tolin (1949–1951)
 * Walter S. Binns (1951–1953)
 * Laughlin E. Waters (1953–1961)
 * Francis C. Whelan (1961–1964)
 * Thomas R. Sheridan (1964)
 * Manuel L. Real (1964–1966)
 * Edwin L. Miller Jr. (1966–1969)
 * Harry D. Steward (1969–1975)
 * Terry J. Knoepp (1975–1977)
 * Michael J. Walsh (1977–1980)
 * M. James Lorenz (1980–1981)
 * William H. Kennedy (1981–1982)
 * Peter K. Nunez (1982–1988)
 * William Braniff (1988–1993)
 * Alan Bersin (1993-1998)
 * Charles La Bella (1998-1999)
 * Greg Vega (1999-2001)
 * Patrick O’Toole (acting 2001-2002)
 * Carol Lam (2002-2007)
 * Karen Hewitt (2007-2010)
 * Laura Duffy (2010-2017)
 * Robert S. Brewer Jr. (2019-2021)
 * Randy Grossman (2021-2023)
 * Tara McGrath (2023-present)