---
type: "LegalText"
title: "48 U.S.C. § 874"
description: "Judicial process; officials to be citizens of United States; oath"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 48
title_name: "TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS"
chapter_number: "4"
chapter_name: "PUERTO RICO"
section: "874"
citation: "48 U.S.C. § 874"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc48@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t48/s874"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-48/usc48.xml"
source_hash: "370bf1ee672f5ae66ace9af4a9d98cfbb6ae7cc90e9b4d9cbac5dab66e93de9d"
raw_snapshot_hash: "2f9a72ec272e6666d7f55f52cc3186aefc6368ca4cc2b9053a531de2fb9288c2"
text_hash: "2c5182771634ec948805ba7cdfb19627756a3fede7ff1547a157c7374c0abfcf"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 48 U.S.C. § 874 - Judicial process; officials to be citizens of United States; oath

## Text

All judicial process shall run in the name of “United States of America, ss, the President of the United States”, and all penal or criminal prosecutions in the local courts shall be conducted in the name and by the authority of “The People of Puerto Rico.” All officials shall be citizens of the United States, and, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Puerto Rico.

(Mar. 2, 1917, ch. 145, § 10, 39 Stat. 954; May 17, 1932, ch. 190, 47 Stat. 158.)

## Notes

Editorial Notes

Prior ProvisionsProvisions similar to those in this section were contained in act Apr. 12, 1900, ch. 191, § 16, 31 Stat. 81.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name “Puerto Rico” substituted in text for “Porto Rico” pursuant to act May 17, 1932, which is classified to section 731a of this title.