18 USC § 3238 - Offenses not committed in any district

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t18/s3238"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "18 USC § 3238 - Offenses not committed in any district"
title_number: 18
title_name: "CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE"
section_number: "3238"
section_name: "Offenses not committed in any district"
chapter_number: 211
chapter_name: "JURISDICTION AND VENUE"
part_number: "II"
part_name: "CRIMINAL PROCEDURE"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-21"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826; Pub. L. 88–27, May 23, 1963, 77 Stat. 48.)"
---


# § 3238. Offenses not committed in any district

The trial of all offenses begun or committed upon the high seas, or elsewhere out of the jurisdiction of any particular State or district, shall be in the district in which the offender, or any one of two or more joint offenders, is arrested or is first brought; but if such offender or offenders are not so arrested or brought into any district, an indictment or information may be filed in the district of the last known residence of the offender or of any one of two or more joint offenders, or if no such residence is known the indictment or information may be filed in the District of Columbia.

---

**Source Credit**: (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 826; Pub. L. 88–27, May 23, 1963, 77 Stat. 48.)

### Historical and Revision Notes

Based on , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Judicial Code and Judiciary (, ).

Words “begun or” were inserted to clarify scope of this section and .

This section is similar to , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Foreign Relations and Intercourse, providing in part that unlawful issuance of passports may be prosecuted in the district where the offender may be arrested or in custody. Said provision is therefore omitted as covered by this section. The remaining provisions of said section 219 are incorporated in .

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1963— authorized the trial of offenses not committed in any district in the district in which the offender, or any one of two or more joint offenders, is arrested; an indictment or information to be filed in the district of the last known residence of the offender or of any one of two or more joint offenders where the offender or offenders are not arrested or brought into any district; and an indictment or information to be filed in the District of Columbia where there is no knowledge of the residence of the offender or of any one of two or more joint offenders.