Walk down the third floor hall from the federal courtrooms in the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Texarkana, Texas, and before you know it, you're in Arkansas. No, it's not a wrinkle in the space-time continuum. This geographic leap occurs because the Texarkana courthouse straddles the state line. According to the General Services Administration, the courthouse's position on the north-south path of State Line Avenue, dividing Texarkana, Texas, from Texarkana, Arkansas, makes it the only federal building in the country sited in two states. From the Judiciary's perspective, it also makes it the only federal courthouse located in two circuits, the 5th and the 8th, and two districts, the Eastern District of Texas and the Western District of Arkansas.

Built in 1933 and now on the historic register, the courthouse attracts a fair share of tourists to its front plaza, where the demarcation between states is helpfully indicated by a large signpost. The split view outside is repeated inside the courthouse where the Texas and the Arkansas courts are mirror images of each other.

"The back of my courtroom and the back of Judge Harry F. Barnes' courtroom in Arkansas line up on the state line," said Judge David Folsom who sits in the Eastern District of Texas. Arkansas has one courtroom used by Barnes as a visiting judge. The Texas side has a total of two courtrooms; in addition to Folsom's courtroom, Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven has a small courtroom without a jury box. So when visiting judges, who frequently help out at the division courthouse, arrive and need room, said Folsom, "we very quickly can have more judges than courtrooms."

The temptation is to borrow a courtroom from the other district. But does that mean a Texas case could wind up being heard in an Arkansas courtroom?

"It's usually not a problem with civil cases, with the consent of the parties," said Folsom. "But we'd be concerned about the change with criminal cases, or in the rare civil case where the parties might object to their case being heard in another state."

To settle that question, a provision in the Federal Courts Improvement Bill of 2004 would allow the Western District of Arkansas and the Eastern District of Texas to hold court anywhere within the federal courthouse. The legislation was introduced last session in the House, where it was reported by the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee to the full Judiciary Committee. A revised and expanded bill was introduced in the Senate last month.

"The boundary line doesn't separate us from friends and colleagues," said Barnes, who obviously enjoys the rather unique Texarkana courthouse. "The courthouse is one of the most cordial I've ever been in."

Employees from both sides get together regularly to celebrate birthdays and hold potluck dinners at the holidays.

Barnes notes another Texarkana distinction. "Judge Folsom and I are given concurrent authority by the Chief Justice of the United States to sit in separate circuits," he said. "To my knowledge, we're the only two Article III judges with that authority."

The authority allows the judges to hold hearings, handle cases, and
generally act on each other's behalf. It comes in handy when either Barnes or Folsom are away from Texarkana. As a visiting judge, Barnes has his chambers 90 miles east in Eldorado, Arkansas, and Folsom routinely travels to Marshall, Texas, 75 miles south of Texarkana, to handle cases. Magistrate Judges Caroline M. Craven (E.D. Tex.) and Bobby E. Shepherd (W.D. Ark.), whose appointments are for both districts, enjoy a similar arrangement.

Even the Texarkana clerks are cross-deputized. Charlotte Powell, deputy-in-charge in the Western District of Arkansas, and Rhonda Lafitte, deputy clerk of court for the Eastern District of Texas, can sign pleadings and receipts for each other and the other deputy clerks in Texarkana.

"It's so unique, it's amazing," said Powell of Texarkana, "but it works really well."

The only time there may be a little confusion is when both sides have new jurors coming in for trials. "We can tell when someone's totally lost," she confides, "and the CSO's usually clear it right up."

Prior to 1995, the two courts maintained separate offices in the Texarkana courthouse. In the spring of 1995, the two clerks' offices were consolidated in an effort to provide better service to the bar and the public. Filings for both districts now are taken in on the Arkansas side. "When attorneys come in we just ask, 'Texas or Arkansas?'" said Lafitte.

There's a communal drop box at the courthouse, so all the after-hours filings are stamped with the Eastern District of Texas, but they find their way to the correct court. Staff carefully check and redirect any mail sent to the wrong side. Cases are rarely confused since each district numbers their cases very differently.

The Texas and Arkansas courts also differ significantly in their local rules—for example, Texas has some page limits, and Arkansas and Texas vary on what must be filed—but these rules are easily checked on the courts' websites. Federal rules cover any questions of jurisdiction or diversity that may arise.