28 U.S.C. § 1399
Section 1399 · Partition action involving United States
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Debreceni v. Merchants Terminal Corp. (1989)
Most recently applied in Debreceni v. Merchants Terminal Corp. (November 1989)
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.
Any civil action by any tenant in common or joint tenant for the partition of lands, where the United States is one of the tenants in common or joint tenants, may be brought only in the judicial district where such lands are located or, if located in different districts in the same State, in any of such districts.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §41(25) (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §24, par. 25, 36 Stat. 1094).
Provisions of section 41(25) of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating to jurisdiction are the basis of section 1347 of this title.
Words “civil action” were substituted for “suits in equity,” in view of Rule 2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Provision with respect to property in different districts was added to conform with section 1392 of this title.
Changes were made in phraseology.
Cross References
Jurisdiction of district court in partition action where United States is tenant in common or joint tenant, see section 1347 of this title.