View source for District Court of the Virgin Islands


{{Short description|United States territorial court}}

{{Infobox U.S. federal court
| court_type        = tribunal
| court_name        = District Court of the Virgin Islands
| abbreviation      = D.V.I.
| seal              = Seal of the United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands.png
| seal_size         = 150
| map_image_name    =
| map_image_width   =
| map_image_caption =
| courthouse        = 
| location          = [[Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands|Charlotte Amalie]]
| courthouse1       = 
| location1         = [[Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands|Christiansted]]
| appeals_to        = [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit|Third Circuit]]
| established       = 1936
| authority         = Article IV
| created_by        = {{UnitedStatesCode|48|1611|1617}}
| composition       = [[President of the United States|Presidential]] nomination<br>with [[United States Senate|Senate]] [[advice and consent]]
| judges_assigned   = 2
| term_length       = 10 years (and until successor is chosen and qualified)
| chief             = [[Robert A. Molloy]]
| us_attorney       = [[Delia L. Smith]]
| us_marshal        = 
| official_site     = {{URL|http://www.vid.uscourts.gov/}}
}}

The '''District Court of the Virgin Islands'''<ref name=USC1614>{{cite web|title=48 U.S. Code § 1614 – Judges of District Court|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/48/1614|website=[[Legal Information Institute]]|publisher=Cornell Law School|access-date=25 August 2017}}</ref> (in [[case citation]]s, '''D.V.I.''') is a [[United States territorial court]] with jurisdiction over federal and diversity actions in the [[United States Virgin Islands]], a [[United States territory]] and more specifically an [[insular area]] that is an [[Territories of the United States|unincorporated organized territory]]. The court sits in both [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Croix]] and [[Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands|St. Thomas]]. Unlike their counterparts on other [[United States district court]]s, [[United States federal judge#Non-Article III judges|judges]] on the District Court of the Virgin Islands do not have [[life tenure]], as the court is not an [[Article I and Article III tribunals|Article III court]]. Instead, the court is an Article IV court, created pursuant to [[United States Congress|Congress']]s [[Article Four of the United States Constitution|Article IV, Section 3]] powers. Judges serve for terms of ten years at a time, and until a successor is chosen and qualified.<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode|48|1614}}</ref> Appeals of the court's decisions are taken to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]] in Philadelphia.<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode|48|1613a}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | publisher = Virgin Islands Supreme Court | url = https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_12810860/File/Court%20Rules/Virgin%20Islands%20Law%20Component.pdf | title = Virgin Islands Law Component Outline Material | date = March 2018 | access-date = 2023-05-16 | page = v}}</ref>

The District Court used to have jurisdiction over all local civil actions brought in the Virgin Islands, but in 1976 the [[Virgin Islands Legislature]]—as allowed by the [[Revised Organic Act of 1954]]—gave a portion of this jurisdiction to the former Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands, at that time the local trial court.  The jurisdiction of the Territorial Court was expanded to all civil actions in 1990.  Similarly, the Legislature gave the Territorial Court jurisdiction over certain criminal actions brought under Virgin Islands law in 1985 and expanded that jurisdiction to all criminal cases in 1993, although the [[United States Attorney]] may still bring certain criminal actions in the District Court in some circumstances. In 2004 the Territorial Court was renamed the [[United States Virgin Islands Superior Court|Superior Court of the Virgin Islands]]. 

Before the creation of the [[United States Virgin Islands Supreme Court|Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands]] in 2007, the Appellate Division of the District Court heard appeals from the Superior Court in three-judge panels. From 2007, the Supreme Court hears these appeals exclusively, with its decisions subject to review by the [[United States Supreme Court]] if that court decides to grant ''[[certiorari]]''.

The current '''United States attorney''' for  the District of the Virgin Islands is [[Delia L. Smith]].