Northern Texas vs. Western Texas

What This Northern Texas vs. Western Texas Comparison Reveals

In FY2025, the Northern Texas District (5th Circuit) handled 1,386 federal sentencings with an average imposed term of 96.9 months, while the Western Texas District (5th Circuit) handled 10,416 cases at an average of 21.2 months. That is a 75.7-month gap - the Northern District sentences longer on average. Case volume alone tells part of the story: Western processed roughly 7.5× more defendants than Northern, which affects guideline compliance patterns and the mix of offenses each court sees.

Guideline compliance diverges as well. Among cases with a determinable guideline range, Northern Texas sentenced 67% within the range, 7% above, and 26% below. In Western Texas, the corresponding figures were 70% within, 20% above, and 10% below. Guilty-plea rates ran at 79% vs. 17%, and prison-sentence rates at 96% vs. 92% respectively, metrics that capture both charging practice and judicial discretion across the two courts.

Set against the nationwide benchmark for the same offense mix, Northern Texas ran a disparity of +43.0% and Western Texas ran +11.1%. That comparison adjusts for the offense mix each district actually handles, so it isolates court-level patterns from pure caseload composition. Readers should still treat these as aggregate descriptive statistics, individual cases turn on criminal history, specific guideline adjustments, cooperation agreements, and statutory mandatory minimums that the district averages cannot resolve. This data is presented for research and educational purposes only and is not legal advice.