![Fifth Circuit appeals court moving to Houston after Katrina](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website], serving Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi from the John Minor Wisdom Courthouse [US GSA historic federal buildings register] in New Orleans, is moving to temporary quarters in Houston, according to Chief Judge Carolyn King. King said Friday that although its 70 court staff would have preferred to shift immediately to Baton Rouge Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive], housing for them was not available, but the federal courthouse in Houston that is home to the Southern District of Texas [official website] had been able to make appropriate arrangements. The appeals court nonetheless expects to move again to Baton Rouge in two months. Court operations will resume September 14, and King said it would be back to "full speed" in a month. The court was forced to cease operations after flooding in New Orleans made its downtown courthouse inaccessible. King said that although electronic documents were backed up on remote servers and most paper documents were moved upstairs to the second floor, some records may have been damaged. Read the latest official court information notice for staff and attorneys. The Houston Chronicle has more.