The
United States District Court for the District of Illinois was established by a statute passed by the
United States Congress on March 3, 1819, 3 Stat. 502. The act established a single office for a judge to preside over the court. Initially, the court was not within any existing judicial circuit, and appeals from the court were taken directly to the
United States Supreme Court. In 1837, Congress created the
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, placing it in
Chicago, Illinois and giving it jurisdiction over the District of Illinois, . On February 13, 1855, by , the District of Illinois was subdivided into
Northern and the
Southern Districts. An
Eastern District was created on March 3, 1905, by , by splitting counties out of the Northern and Southern Districts. It was later eliminated in a reorganization on October 2, 1978, which replaced it with the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois District, . The newly created Central District was formed primarily from parts of the Southern District, and returned some counties to the Northern District. Some judges from both the Eastern and Southern Districts were transferred to the Central District by
operation of law. ==Current judges==