This codebook describes the civil CSV file that fjc-idb creates from the FJC
Integrated Database (IDB) files for civil cases in the U.S. district courts. It
follows the FJC's Civil Documentation for 1988 forward (October 25, 2023),
adapted to the column names, labels, and added columns that fjc-idb
produces. The original codebook is available from the
FJC IDB page.
One row per case. Each row is a civil case. The district, office, and
docket number together identify a case; a case that is reopened, remanded,
or transferred can appear again with a new row.
Years. The IDB has one file for each statistical year, which runs from
October 1 through September 30. Each file holds the cases terminated that
year. The most recent files also hold a snapshot of cases still pending when
the file was made.
Pending cases. A pending case is repeated in each file until it ends, so
fjc-idb keeps pending cases only from the latest file in the range. In
those rows, pending is 1 and data_file_year is 2099.
Records are updated. Each record reflects the case as of the latest
update the FJC received, so information that changed during the case (such
as pro se or in forma pauperis status) can be overwritten.
Column order. The CSV keeps the order of the original file, with each
added column placed next to the column it comes from. The tables below group
the columns by subject instead.
Each original IDB field is renamed to a descriptive name. Pass rename_columns=False (or --rename-columns false) to keep the IDB names, such as PROCPROG.
Missing data
The IDB code -8 and the date 1900-01-01 mean missing data. They are written as NA in date columns and left blank in all other columns, unless a column below says otherwise.
Labels
Columns marked with a label table have their codes replaced by labels. Codes with no label are kept as they are.
Indicators
Added indicator columns are 1 for yes and 0 for no.
Added columns
Columns marked added are created by fjc-idb and are not in the IDB.
Circuit in which the case was filed. See Circuits.
district
DISTRICT
text
District in which the case was filed. The IDB's two-character code is combined with the circuit to match the district list in the appellate codebook. See Districts.
district_courthouse
OFFICE
text
Office within the district where the case was filed, as "City, ST". See Courthouses.
docket
DOCKET
text
Docket number assigned by the clerk: a two-digit docket year (usually the calendar year of filing) and a five-digit sequence number.
origin
ORIGIN
text
How the case came to the district court. See Origins.
mdl_docket
MDLDOCK
text
Four-digit docket number of the multidistrict litigation the case is part of.
data_file_year
TAPEYEAR
integer
Statistical year of the file the row comes from: the year the case was terminated, or 2099 for pending cases.
pending
STATUSCD
integer
1 for a pending case (IDB code S) and 0 for a terminated case (L).
Amount sought by the plaintiff, in thousands of dollars. Amounts under $500 appear as 1 and amounts over $10 million as 9999. Courts have not always reported this field in thousands, so it may be inaccurate.
jury_demand
JURY
text
Party or parties demanding a jury trial. See Jury demands.
county
COUNTY
text
County of residence of the first listed plaintiff (or of the first listed defendant when the United States is the plaintiff, or of the land in a condemnation case). 88888 means outside the home state and 99999 outside the United States.
Pro se parties. See Pro se parties. Blank in records posted before October 1995.
pro_se_party
PROSE
integer
Added.1 if any party was pro se (codes 1, 2, or 3), 0 if none was, and blank if pro_se is missing.
in_forma_pauperis
IFP
integer
1 for a case proceeding in forma pauperis (FP) and 0 otherwise. Unlike the appellate files, the civil codebook defines -8 as "not IFP," so it becomes 0 rather than blank. Captured since October 2000.
Party in whose favor final judgment was entered. See Judgments. The codebook uses both 0 and -8 for missing data, so both are left blank.
amount_received
AMTREC
integer
Amount received, in thousands of dollars. The AO advises against using this field because courts do not report it uniformly (some use 9999 for amounts over $1 million and others as a filler).
The IDB stores a two-character district code. fjc-idb adds the two-digit
circuit in front of it (circuit 9 and district 73 become 0973), which is
how the appellate codebook lists districts.
Office codes repeat across districts, so each office is identified by its
combined district code followed by the office code (09732 is Los Angeles).
The names come from Appendix D of the appellate codebook, which uses the same
office codes, and are followed by the state's two-letter abbreviation. Office
codes that are not in that list, such as Northern District of Florida offices
7, 8, and 9 (used by more than 100,000 recent cases), are left as combined
codes. By default, twelve names misspelled in the codebook are corrected; pass
fix_city_spellings=False (or --fix-city-spellings false) to keep the codebook
spellings. The appellate codebook lists
every courthouse code.
Used only when jurisdiction is diversity of citizenship. The first digit is the
plaintiff's citizenship and the second the defendant's, so 24 is a citizen of
another state suing a corporation incorporated or based in this state.
Digit
Citizenship
1
Citizen of this state
2
Citizen of another state
3
Citizen or subject of a foreign country
4
Incorporated or principal place of business in this state
5
Incorporated and principal place of business in another state
Issue is joined when the defendant answers the complaint. "No court action"
means the case was withdrawn or settled without a judge or magistrate judge
taking part.
Code
Label
1
Before issue joined, no court action
2
Before issue joined, order entered
11
Before issue joined, hearing held
12
Before issue joined, order decided
3
After issue joined, no court action
4
After issue joined, judgment on motion
5
After issue joined, pretrial conference held
6
After issue joined, during court trial
7
After issue joined, during jury trial
8
After issue joined, after court trial
9
After issue joined, after jury trial
10
After issue joined, other
13
After issue joined, request for trial de novo after arbitration
A statistical closing (18) is used for a case pending more than three years
with no activity for more than twelve months and all contemplated proceedings
completed.