Civil Filings for March 2026
Table 1. Civil Filings
Number Latest Month 36,656 Percent Change from previous month 16.9% Percent Change from 1 year ago 27.9% Percent Change from 5 years ago 1.2% The latest available data from the federal courts show that during March 2026 the government reported 36,656 new civil filings. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 16.9% over the previous month when the number of civil filings of this type totaled 31,367.
The comparisons of the number of civil filings are based on case-by-case court records which were compiled and analyzed by TRAC (see Table 1).
When monthly 2026 civil filings of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, their number was up (27.9%). Civil filings for March 2026 are higher than they were for the same period five years ago. Overall, the data show that civil filings of this type are up 1.2% from levels reported in March 2021.
Figure 1. Civil Filings Over the Last Five Years
The long term trend in civil filings for these matters going back five years is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of civil filings of this type recorded each month. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. One-year and five-year change comparisons are based upon the moving averages.
Types of filings
Cases were classified by the federal courts into general types. The single largest number of civil filings of these matters during March 2026 was for "Immigration", accounting for 27.0% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "Civil Rights " (13.8%) , "Prisoner Petitions" (12.1%), "Torts - Personal Injury - Product Liability" (9.4%), "Contract" (7.3%).
Jurisdiction
Within limits set by Congress and the Constitution, the federal district courts have jurisdiction to hear cases falling under any one of several categories. The single largest number of civil filings of these matters during March 2026 was under the classification "Federal Question", accounting for 40.2% of civil filings.
As shown in Figure 2, additional categories with substantial numbers of civil filings were "U.S. Government Defendant" (36.9%) , "Diversity" (22.2%), "U.S. Government Plaintiff" (0.6%).
Rankings: Specific Nature of Suits
Court filings are also classified based upon the specific nature of the suit. Table 2 shows the top nature of suit categories recorded in the matters filed during March 2026
Table 2. Specific Nature of Suit Types
Nature of Suit Count Rank 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago Habeas Corpus - Alien Detainee 9,059 1 36 40 More Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability 2,490 2 7 2 More Other Civil Rights 2,046 3 2 7 More Civil Rights 1,740 4 3 3 More Employment 1,462 5 9 11 More Other Personal Injury 1,442 6 6 12 More General Prisoner Petitions 1,250 7 4 6 More Insurance 1,222 8 8 4 More Other Contract 1,183 9 5 8 More Consumer Credit 1,169 10 10 10 More
"Habeas Corpus - Alien Detainee" was the most frequent recorded nature of suit category.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the nature of suit category "Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability". "Health Care / Pharmaceutical Personal Injury Product Liability" was ranked 7th a year ago, while it was the 2nd most frequently invoked five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Other Civil Rights". "Other Civil Rights" was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was the 7th most frequently invoked five years ago.
Among these top nature of suit categories, the one showing the greatest increase in civil filings — up 8527.6 percent — compared to one year ago was "Habeas Corpus - Alien Detainee". This was the same category that had the largest increase — 12659 percent — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten nature of suit categories, the one showing the sharpest decline in civil filings compared to one year ago — down 6.0 percent — was "Other Contract". This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 42.4 percent — when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
Relative to population, the volume of civil matters of this type filed in federal district courts during March 2026 was 107.8 per every million persons in the United States. One year ago the relative number of filings was 74.8. Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of civil filings in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
Table 3. Top Ten Districts (per one million people)
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Fla, N 961.3 1,941 1 5 1 More D. C. 536.8 377 2 1 2 More Montana 233.0 265 3 60 38 More Cal, S 217.5 757 4 18 29 More N. Y., S 192.8 1,020 5 3 4 More Texas, W 190.0 1,540 6 50 48 More La, W 188.8 394 7 28 6 More Fla, S 184.3 1,455 8 10 7 More N Mexico 173.2 369 9 59 49 More La, M 169.3 146 10 13 34 More
The Northern District of Florida — with 961.3 civil filings as compared with 107.8 civil filings per one million people in the United States — was the most active during March 2026. The Northern District of Florida was ranked 5th a year ago, while it was ranked 1st five years ago.
The District of Washington, D.C. ranked 2nd. The District of Washington, D.C. was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was ranked 2nd five years ago.
The District of Montana now ranks 3rd.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Middle District of Louisiana (Baton Rouge), Southern District of California (San Diego), Western District of Louisiana (Shreveport), Western District of Texas (San Antonio), New Mexico and Montana, now ranked 10th, 4th, 7th, 6th, 9th and 3rd. These districts ranked 13th, 18th, 28th, 50th, 59th and 60th one year ago and 34th, 29th, 6th, 48th, 49th and 38th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in the rate of civil filings compared to one year ago — 461.0 percent — was Northern District of Florida. Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 296.7 percent — was Montana .
Report Generated: May 7, 2026
