United States District Court for the Central District of California

The United States District Court for the Central District of California, cited as C.D. Cal. and often called the CDCA or CACD, is a federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, which makes it the most populous federal judicial district in the country. The district was created on 18 September 1966, and the Central and Eastern Districts were formed in 1966 from parts of the older Northern and Southern Districts of California. Appeals go to the Ninth Circuit, except patent claims and Tucker Act claims against the United States government, which go to the Federal Circuit. The court has three divisions covering seven counties: Eastern for Riverside and San Bernardino, Southern for Orange County at Santa Ana, and Western for Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura, with cases heard in downtown Los Angeles. Along with the Central District of Illinois, it is one of only two district courts named Central rather than Middle.