Where did it happen?
Or where does a defendant live? Run it once for each place you're considering.
Listed as the U.S. Census Bureau names them. In Virginia, independent cities are listed as “City of …”.
Which place counts?
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), you can generally file where any defendant lives (if all defendants live in the same state) or where a substantial part of the events happened. If those point to different courts, more than one may be proper. The choice is yours.
Choose a state to see its federal court.
Before you file
- Open the court's website and find its page for people without lawyers (“pro se” or “representing yourself”).
- Check whether the court wants its own version of the complaint or fee waiver form.
- Read the local rules on where to file within the district and how many copies to send.
- Check your deadline with the deadline calculator.
How we built this: county assignments come from the federal statute that defines each district (28 U.S.C. chapter 5), checked against the Census county list so every county maps to exactly one court. Ohio courthouse seats and Virginia divisions come from those courts' local rules. Where a district has no divisions, we list every place the statute says court is held; the court's local rules decide which one handles your case. Last reviewed September 24, 2026.