18 U.S.C. § 3241
Section 3241 · Jurisdiction of offenses under certain sections
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 22 court decisions — leading case United States v. Rosero (1994)
Most recently applied in United States v. Michael Hendrickson (February 2020)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
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.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§39, 574; sections 23, 101, 1406 of title 48, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Territories and Insular Possessions; section 39 of title 50, U.S.C., 1940 ed., War and National Defense (June 6, 1900, ch. 786, §4, 31 Stat. 322; Aug. 24, 1912, ch. 387, §3, 37 Stat. 512; June 15, 1917, ch. 30, title XIII, §2, 40 Stat. 231; Mar. 2, 1921, ch. 110, 41 Stat. 1203; June 22, 1936, ch. 699, §28, 49 Stat. 1814).
Section consolidates portions of sections 39 and 574 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., with jurisdictional provisions of sections 23, 101, and 1406 of title 48, U.S.C., 1940 ed., and section 39 of title 50 U.S.C., 1940 ed., with changes of phraseology necessary to effect consolidation.
The revised section simplifies and clarifies the Federal jurisdiction of the district courts of the Territories and Possessions. The enumeration of sections in section 574 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., was omitted as incomplete and misleading and the general language of the revised section was made applicable to the Canal Zone.
The phrase “the several courts of the first instance in the Philippine Islands” in section 574 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., was omitted as obsolete in view of the independence of the Commonwealth of the Philippines effective July 4, 1946.
The last sentence of section 574 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., with reference to the powers of district attorneys was omitted as unnecessary and otherwise covered by sections 403 and 404 of title 22, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Foreign Relations and Intercourse.
Definition of United States in section 39 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., is incorporated in section 5 of this title.
Amendments
2002—Pub. L. 107–273 struck out “United States District Court for the Canal Zone and the” after “The”.
1958—Pub. L. 85–508 struck out provisions which related to the District Court for the Territory of Alaska. See section 81A of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, which establishes a United States District Court for the State of Alaska.
Effective Date of 1958 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 85–508 effective Jan. 3, 1959, on admission of Alaska into the Union pursuant to Proc. No. 3269, Jan. 3, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by sections 1 and 8(c) of Pub. L. 85–508, see notes set out under section 81A of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, and preceding former section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.