About United States Virgin Island
The District of the Virgin Islands (District) is situated within the Territory of the Virgin Islands. The territory consists of the main islands, St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John, and about 50 islets. The territorial population is about 115,000, with approximately 60,000 in St. Thomas, 50,000 in St. Croix and 5,000 in St. John. The Islands are situated between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico. The District is completely surrounded by international waters and is extremely vulnerable to drug trafficking and illegal aliens. This vulnerability is evidenced by the District's designation as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).
Tourism dominates the economy of the Islands. Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas is the territorial capital and the location of the headquarters of the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the District. St. Thomas is one of the world's largest cruise ship destinations and receives more than one million visitors per year.
A branch office is located in Christiansted, St. Croix. St. Croix is 40 miles across the ocean from St. Thomas. St. Croix is the largest of the islands. St. Croix is the easternmost part of the United States in the Western Hemisphere.
The Virgin Islands National Park comprises approximately 70 percent of St. John. St. John is the smallest of the islands and is about 15 to 20 minutes from St. Thomas by ferry.
The Territory is governed by a Governer and a unicameral legislature consisting of 15 senators. All executive branch positions, including that of the Attorney General for the Territory, are appointed by the Governor.
The District is very unique in many respects. First, the District Court of the Virgin Islands is not constituted under Article III of the Constitution but rather under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. Consequently, the district court judges serve eight-year terms rather than appointments for life. Second, the District has no permanent bankruptcy judges. Bankruptcy judges from the Third Judicial Circuit are temporarily assigned to hear bankruptcy matters in the District of the Virgin Islands.
This is the only Judicial District which is not mandated to utilize the grand jury. Until 1993, no grand jury was used in the District. The Bill of Rights does not necessarily apply to residents of the Virgin Islands. Virgin Islanders do not have the right to vote in United States elections. As a matter of policy, however, the USAO uses the grand jury except for routine cases.
The District contains separate customs zones. Unlike Puerto Rico, when persons leave this District they are required to go through U.S. Customs. Goods are duty free up to $1,200. Duties which are paid go to the Territory of the Virgin Islands. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) office in this District is very active. This is the only District which prosecutes all illegal alien cases. Recently, it was noted that the District had the 8th largest number of Immigration cases of all of the nation's 94 districts.
The District Court of the Virgin Islands will not permit use of local pretrial detention facilities due to a standing court order concerning substandard conditions of confinement. As a result, all federal detainees must be transported to and from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Finally, income tax returns from the residents of the Virgin Islands are filed with the Territory of the Virgin Islands, which keeps all tax revenues except for Social Security taxes.