The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (in case citations, N.D. Ohio) is the federal trial court for the northern half of Ohio. The district holds court in Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, and Youngstown. The district includes 40 of the state's 88 counties.
Appeals from this court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit). The United States Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Ohio represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of July 23, 2025 the United States attorney, the district’s chief prosecutor, is David Toepfer.
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History
The United States District Court for the District of Ohio was established on February 19, 1803, by 2 Stat. 201. The District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on February 10, 1855, by 10 Stat. 604.
Divisions
The Northern District comprises two divisions.
Eastern Division
The Eastern Division comprises the counties of Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Holmes, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Wayne.
Court for the Eastern Division can be held in Akron, Cleveland and Youngstown.
Western Division
The Western Division comprises the counties of Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Marion, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot.
Court for the Western Division can be held in Toledo.
Current judges
As of July 9, 2026:
Chief judges
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.