Southern Texas vs. Western Texas

What This Southern Texas vs. Western Texas Comparison Reveals

In FY2024, the Southern Texas District (5th Circuit) handled 1,134 federal sentencings with an average imposed term of 84.8 months, while the Western Texas District (5th Circuit) handled 6,122 cases at an average of 28.3 months. That is a 56.5-month gap - the Southern District sentences longer on average. Case volume alone tells part of the story: Western processed roughly 5.4× more defendants than Southern, 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, Southern Texas sentenced 61% within the range, 8% above, and 32% below. In Western Texas, the corresponding figures were 55% within, 2% above, and 43% below. Guilty-plea rates ran at 96% vs. 51%, and prison-sentence rates at 93% vs. 94% respectively, metrics that capture both charging practice and judicial discretion across the two courts.

Set against the nationwide benchmark for the same offense mix, Southern Texas ran a disparity of +55.1% and Western Texas ran -18.5%. 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.