1. U.S. Code
  2. title 18
  3. part II
  4. chapter 211
  5. § 3238

Collapse to view only § 3238. Offenses not committed in any district

§ 3231. District courts

The district courts of the United States shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the States, of all offenses against the laws of the United States.

Nothing in this title shall be held to take away or impair the jurisdiction of the courts of the several States under the laws thereof.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3231

§ 3232. District of offense—(Rule)
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3232

§ 3233. Transfer within district—(Rule)
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3233

§ 3234. Change of venue to another district—(Rule)
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3234

§ 3235. Venue in capital cases

The trial of offenses punishable with death shall be had in the county where the offense was committed, where that can be done without great inconvenience.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3235

§ 3236. Murder or manslaughter

In all cases of murder or manslaughter, the offense shall be deemed to have been committed at the place where the injury was inflicted, or the poison administered or other means employed which caused the death, without regard to the place where the death occurs.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3236

§ 3237. Offenses begun in one district and completed in another
(a) Except as otherwise expressly provided by enactment of Congress, any offense against the United States begun in one district and completed in another, or committed in more than one district, may be inquired of and prosecuted in any district in which such offense was begun, continued, or completed.

Any offense involving the use of the mails, transportation in interstate or foreign commerce, or the importation of an object or person into the United States is a continuing offense and, except as otherwise expressly provided by enactment of Congress, may be inquired of and prosecuted in any district from, through, or into which such commerce, mail matter, or imported object or person moves.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), where an offense is described in section 7203 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or where venue for prosecution of an offense described in section 7201 or 7206(1), (2), or (5) of such Code (whether or not the offense is also described in another provision of law) is based solely on a mailing to the Internal Revenue Service, and prosecution is begun in a judicial district other than the judicial district in which the defendant resides, he may upon motion filed in the district in which the prosecution is begun, elect to be tried in the district in which he was residing at the time the alleged offense was committed: Provided, That the motion is filed within twenty days after arraignment of the defendant upon indictment or information.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826; Pub. L. 85–595, Aug. 6, 1958, 72 Stat. 512; Pub. L. 89–713, § 2, Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1108; Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title I, § 162, July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 697; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 1204(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2152; Pub. L. 99–514, § 2, Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2095.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3237

§ 3238. Offenses not committed in any district

The trial of all offenses begun or committed upon the high seas, or elsewhere out of the jurisdiction of any particular State or district, shall be in the district in which the offender, or any one of two or more joint offenders, is arrested or is first brought; but if such offender or offenders are not so arrested or brought into any district, an indictment or information may be filed in the district of the last known residence of the offender or of any one of two or more joint offenders, or if no such residence is known the indictment or information may be filed in the District of Columbia.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826; Pub. L. 88–27, May 23, 1963, 77 Stat. 48.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3238

§ 3239. Optional venue for espionage and related offenses
The trial for any offense involving a violation, begun or committed upon the high seas or elsewhere out of the jurisdiction of any particular State or district, of—
(1) section 793, 794, 798, or section 1030(a)(1) of this title;
(2) section 601 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 421); 1
1 See References in Text note below.
or
(3) section 4(b) or 4(c) of the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 783(b) or (c));
may be in the District of Columbia or in any other district authorized by law.
(Added Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXII, § 320909(a), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2127.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3239

§ 3240. Creation of new district or division

Whenever any new district or division is established, or any county or territory is transferred from one district or division to another district or division, prosecutions for offenses committed within such district, division, county, or territory prior to such transfer, shall be commenced and proceeded with the same as if such new district or division had not been created, or such county or territory had not been transferred, unless the court, upon the application of the defendant, shall order the case to be removed to the new district or division for trial.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 827; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 50, 63 Stat. 96.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3240

§ 3241. Jurisdiction of offenses under certain sections

The District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have jurisdiction of offenses under the laws of the United States, not locally inapplicable, committed within the territorial jurisdiction of such courts, and jurisdiction, concurrently with the district courts of the United States, of offenses against the laws of the United States committed upon the high seas.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 827; Pub. L. 85–508, § 12(i), July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 348; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, § 4004(e), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1812.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3241

§ 3242. Indians committing certain offenses; acts on reservations

All Indians committing any offense listed in the first paragraph of and punishable under section 1153 (relating to offenses committed within Indian country) of this title shall be tried in the same courts and in the same manner as are all other persons committing such offense within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 827; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 51, 63 Stat. 96; Pub. L. 89–707, § 2, Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1101; Pub. L. 94–297, § 4, May 29, 1976, 90 Stat. 586.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3242

§ 3243. Jurisdiction of State of Kansas over offenses committed by or against Indians on Indian reservations

Jurisdiction is conferred on the State of Kansas over offenses committed by or against Indians on Indian reservations, including trust or restricted allotments, within the State of Kansas, to the same extent as its courts have jurisdiction over offenses committed elsewhere within the State in accordance with the laws of the State.

This section shall not deprive the courts of the United States of jurisdiction over offenses defined by the laws of the United States committed by or against Indians on Indian reservations.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 827.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3243

§ 3244. Jurisdiction of proceedings relating to transferred offenders
When a treaty is in effect between the United States and a foreign country providing for the transfer of convicted offenders—
(1) the country in which the offender was convicted shall have exclusive jurisdiction and competence over proceedings seeking to challenge, modify, or set aside convictions or sentences handed down by a court of such country;
(2) all proceedings instituted by or on behalf of an offender transferred from the United States to a foreign country seeking to challenge, modify, or set aside the conviction or sentence upon which the transfer was based shall be brought in the court which would have jurisdiction and competence if the offender had not been transferred;
(3) all proceedings instituted by or on behalf of an offender transferred to the United States pertaining to the manner of execution in the United States of the sentence imposed by a foreign court shall be brought in the United States district court for the district in which the offender is confined or in which supervision is exercised and shall name the Attorney General and the official having immediate custody or exercising immediate supervision of the offender as respondents. The Attorney General shall defend against such proceedings;
(4) all proceedings instituted by or on behalf of an offender seeking to challenge the validity or legality of the offender’s transfer from the United States shall be brought in the United States district court of the district in which the proceedings to determine the validity of the offender’s consent were held and shall name the Attorney General as respondent; and
(5) all proceedings instituted by or on behalf of an offender seeking to challenge the validity or legality of the offender’s transfer to the United States shall be brought in the United States district court of the district in which the offender is confined or of the district in which supervision is exercised and shall name the Attorney General and the official having immediate custody or exercising immediate supervision of the offender as respondents. The Attorney General shall defend against such proceedings.
(Added Pub. L. 95–144, § 3, Oct. 28, 1977, 91 Stat. 1220, title 28, § 2256; renumbered Pub. L. 95–598, title III, § 314(j)(1), Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2677.)

CITE AS: 18 USC 3244