Pattern jury instructions

Pattern jury instructions are model instructions a court or its committee publishes for judges to give juries. This list links to the state courts and the federal circuits that publish their own, each on the court's official site.

Where are pattern jury instructions published?

• Seventh Circuit
• Arizona
• California
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Mississippi
• Nebraska
• Oklahoma
• Ninth Circuit
• Eleventh Circuit

Each link opens the official site in a new tab. We checked every link on October 20, 2026. A place without a page we could check is not listed.

What are pattern jury instructions?

Pattern jury instructions are model instructions a court, or a committee it appoints, writes for judges to read to a jury. They explain the elements of a claim or a crime and the standards the jury applies, in plain words. Many courts publish separate sets for civil and criminal cases.

Judges adapt the pattern instructions to the case in front of them, and the parties may propose changes. Courts revise their pattern instructions as the law changes, so each court's page shows the current edition and, often, the date of each revision.

What other lists does the law library keep?

The law library keeps one list like this for each kind of official source: court forms by state, court rules by state, business entity search, attorney general opinions, session laws and federal agency decisions.