The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (in case citations, S.D. Tex.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over the southeastern part of Texas. The court's headquarters is in Houston, Texas, and has six additional locations in the district.

Appeals from cases brought in the Southern District of Texas are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

As of December 12, 2022^[update], the United States attorney is Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Along with the Western District of Texas, District of New Mexico, and District of Arizona, it is one of the busiest district courts in terms of criminal felony filings.^[1]

Since its foundation, the Southern District of Texas has been served by forty-one District Judges and six Clerks of Court. The first federal judge in Texas was John C. Watrous, who was appointed on May 26, 1846, and had previously served as Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He was assigned to hold court in Galveston, at the time, the largest city in the state. As seat of the Texas Judicial District, the Galveston court had jurisdiction over the whole state.^[3] On February 21, 1857, the state was divided into two districts, Eastern and Western, with Judge Watrous continuing in the Eastern district.^[4] Judge Watrous and Judge Thomas H. DuVal, of the Western District of Texas, left the state on the secession of Texas from the Union, the only two United States Judges not to resign their posts in states that seceded. When Texas was restored to the Union, Watrous and DuVal resumed their duties and served until 1870. Judge Amos Morrill served in the Eastern District of Texas from 1872 to 1884. He was succeeded by Chauncy B. Sabin (1884 to 1890) and David E. Bryant (1890 to 1902). In 1902, when the Southern District was created by Act of Congress, Judge Bryant continued to serve in the Eastern District of Texas.

In 1917, the General Services Administration added courtrooms and judicial offices to the second floor of the 1861 U.S. Customs House in Galveston, and it became the new federal courthouse for the Southern District of Texas. This location would later become the seat of the Galveston Division, after Congress added a second judgeship in the 1930s.^[4][5][6]

The Southern District of Texas started with one judge, Waller T. Burns, and a Clerk of Court, Christopher Dart, seated in Galveston. Since that time, the court has grown to nineteen district judgeships, six bankruptcy judgeships, fourteen magistrate judgeships, and over 200 deputy clerks.

The jurisdiction of the Southern District of Texas is divided as follows:

• The Brownsville Division covers Cameron and Willacy Counties.
• The Corpus Christi Division covers Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, Nueces, and San Patricio Counties.
• The Galveston Division covers Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, and Matagorda Counties.
• The Houston Division covers Austin, Brazos, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend, Grimes, Harris, Madison, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker, Waller, and Wharton Counties.
• The Laredo Division covers Jim Hogg, La Salle, McMullen, Webb, and Zapata Counties.
• The McAllen Division covers Hidalgo and Starr Counties.
• The Victoria Division covers Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca, Refugio, and Victoria Counties.

As of January 12, 2024^[update]:

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

• Marcus C. McLemore 1902 – 1906^[13]
• Lodowick McDaniel 1906 – 1914
• John Edward Green Jr. 1914 – 1919
• David Edward Simmons 1919 – 1922
• Henry Matthews Holden 1922 – 1934
• Douglas Wear McGregor 1934 – 1944
• Brian Sylvester Odem 1944 – 1954
• Malcolm Richard Wilkey 1954 – 1957
• William B. Butler 1957 – 1961
• Woodrow Bradley Seals 1961 – 1966
• Morton Lee Susman 1966 – 1969
• Anthony Perez Farris 1969 – 1974
• Edward B. McDonough Jr. 1974 – 1977
• Jose Antonio Canales 1977 – 1980
• Daniel Kuldell Hedges 1981 – 1985
• Henry K. Oncken 1985 – 1990
• Ronald G. Woods 1990 – 1993
• Gaynelle Griffin Jones 1993 – 1997
• Mervyn Milton Mosbacker 1999 – 2001
• Michael T. Shelby 2001 – 2005
• Donald J. DeGabrielle 2006 – 2008
• Kenneth Magidson 2011 – 2017
• Ryan Patrick 2018 – 2021
• Alamdar S. Hamdani 2022 –

• Courts of Texas
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Texas