United States District Court for the District of Nevada

District of Nevada

Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 7
Judges: 5
Vacancies: 2
Judges
Chief: Miranda Du
Active judges: Richard Franklin Boulware II, Jennifer Dorsey, Miranda Du, Andrew Gordon, Gloria M. Navarro

Senior judges:
Kent Dawson, Larry Hicks, Roger Hunt, Robert C. Jones, James Mahan, Howard McKibben

## Contents

* 1 Vacancies
* 1.1 Pending nominations
* 2 Active judges
* 2.1 Article III judges
* 2.1.1 Active Article III judges by appointing political party
* 2.2 Senior judges
* 2.2.1 Senior judges by appointing political party
* 2.3 Magistrate judges
* 2.4 Former chief judges
* 2.5 Former judges
* 3 Jurisdiction
* 4 Caseloads
* 5 History
* 5.1 Judicial posts
* 6 Noteworthy events
* 6.1 Federal Judicial Conference recommendation (2019)
* 7 Federal courthouse
* 8 About United States District Courts
* 8.1 Appointments by president
* 8.2 Judges by district
* 8.3 Judicial selection
* 8.4 Magistrate judges
* 9 See also
* 10 External links
* 11 Footnotes

The United States District Court for the District of Nevada is one of 94 United States district courts. The court has locations in Las Vegas and Reno. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but initial appeals are heard at the Richard Chambers Federal Courthouse in Pasadena, California.

## Vacancies[edit]

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are two current vacancies on the United States District Court for the District of Nevada out of the court's seven judicial positions.

### Pending nominations[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Anne Rachel Traum

Joe Biden (D)

|  |

Brown University, 1991

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1996

Cristina Silva

Joe Biden (D)

|  |

Wellesley College, 2001

American University, Washington College of Law, 2007

## Active judges[edit]

### Article III judges[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Gloria M. Navarro

Barack Obama (D)

|  May 6, 2010  |

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1989

Arizona State University Law School, 1992

Miranda Du

Barack Obama (D)

|  March 30, 2012  |

University of California, Davis, 1991

University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1994

Andrew Gordon

Barack Obama (D)

|  March 12, 2013  |

Claremont McKenna College, 1984

Harvard Law, 1987

Jennifer Dorsey

Barack Obama (D)

|  July 9, 2013  |

University of Nevadas, Las Vegas, 1994

Pepperdine University Law, 1997

Richard Franklin Boulware II

Barack Obama (D)

|  June 10, 2014  |

Harvard, 1993

Columbia Law School, 2002

#### Active Article III judges by appointing political party[edit]

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 5
* Republican appointed: 0

### Senior judges[edit]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Howard McKibben

Ronald Reagan (R)

|  April 1, 2005  |

Bradley University, 1962

University of Michigan Law School, 1967

Roger Hunt

Bill Clinton (D)

|  May 26, 2011  |

Brigham Young University, 1966

George Washington University, 1970

Kent Dawson

Bill Clinton (D)

|  July 9, 2012  |

Weber State College, 1969

University of Utah School of Law, 1971

Larry Hicks

George W. Bush (R)

|  December 13, 2012  |

University of Nevada, 1965

University of Colorado, 1968

Robert C. Jones

George W. Bush (R)

|  February 1, 2016  |

Brigham Young University, 1971

UCLA School of Law, 1975

James Mahan

George W. Bush (R)

|  June 29, 2018  |

University of Charleston, 1965

Vanderbilt University Law School, 1973

#### Senior judges by appointing political party[edit]

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

* Democrat appointed: 2
* Republican appointed: 4

### Magistrate judges[edit]

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.[1]

Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law

|
|
|
|

Vincent Ferenbach

|  |  |

Princeton, 1969

Arizona State University, 1979

William Cobb

|  |  September 4, 2011  |

University of Nevada, 1971

Lewis & Clark School of Law, 1974

Nancy J. Koppe

|  |  January 1, 2013  |

University of Pennsylvania, 1989

Cornell Law School, 1992

Carla Baldwin

|  |  August 28, 2018  |

The University of Nevada, Reno, 1997

University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 2003

Brenda Weksler

|  |  May 1, 2019  |

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

University of Nevada, Las Vegas Boyd School, 2002

Daniel Albregts

|  |  August 5, 2019  |

University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1984

University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1987

Elayna Youchah

|  |  August 6, 2019  |

University of Michigan, 1980

University of Southern California, 1993

### Former chief judges[edit]

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy in the office of chief judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges.

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. A statutory change in the 1950s created the seven-year term. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion.[2]

* Gloria M. Navarro \- (2014 - 2019)
* Robert C. Jones \- (2011 - 2014)
* Roger Hunt \- (2007 - 2011)
* Phil Pro \- (2002 - 2007)
* Howard McKibben \- (1997 - 2002)
* Lloyd George \- (1992 - (1997)
* Edward Reed \- (1986 - (1992)

* Harry Claiborne \- (1980 - 1986)
* Roger Foley \- (1963 - 1980)
* John Rolly Ross \- (1961 - 1963)
* Roger T. Foley \- (1954 - 1957)

|

### Former judges[edit]

For information on judges of the District of Nevada, see former federal judges of the District of Nevada.

## Jurisdiction[edit]

The Counties of Nevada (click for larger map)

The District of Nevada has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The jurisdiction of the District of Nevada consists of all the counties in the state of Nevada.

## Caseloads[edit]

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in April 2021.

Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

Caseload statistics explanation

Term  |  Explanation
Cases filed and terminated | The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated or decided by the court in a calendar year. The chart below reflects the table columns Cases filed and Cases terminated.
Average time from filing to disposition |  The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to date of disposition (acquittal, sentencing, dismissal, etc.). The chart below reflects the table columns Median time (Criminal) and Median time (Civil).
Starting case load | The number of cases pending from the previous calendar year.
Cases filed | The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated in a calendar year.
Cases terminated | The total number of civil and criminal lawsuits decided by the court in a calendar year.
Remaining cases | The number of civil and criminal cases pending at the end of a given year.
Median time (Criminal) | The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition. In criminal cases, the date of disposition occurs on the day of sentencing or acquittal/dismissal.
Median time (Civil) | The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition.
Three-year civil cases | The number and percent of civil cases that were filed more than three years before the end of the given calendar year.
Vacant posts | The number of months during the year an authorized judgeship was vacant.
Trial/Post | The number of trials completed divided by the number of authorized judgeships on the court. Trials include evidentiary trials, hearings on temporary restraining orders, and preliminary injunctions.

Source: United States Courts, "Explanation of the Judicial Caseload Profiles for United States District Courts," accessed September 25, 2018

United States District Court for the District of Nevada caseload stats, 2010-2019

Year | Cases Filed | Cases Terminated | Cases Pending | Number of Judgeships | Vacant Judgeship Months | Average Total Filings per Judgeship | Trials Completed per Judgeship | Median time from filing to disposition, criminal | Median time from filing to disposition, civil | Three-year civil cases (#) | Three-year civil cases (%)
2010 | 4,242 | 3,688 | 4,560 | 7 | 4 | 606 | 23 | 9 | 8 | 291 | 9
2011 | 3,842 | 3,816 | 4,032 | 7 | 7 | 549 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 210 | 6
2012 | 3,822 | 3,759 | 4,403 | 7 | 21 | 546 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 272 | 8
2013 | 3,898 | 3,684 | 4,604 | 7 | 21 | 557 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 335 | 10
2014 | 3,595 | 3,612 | 4,555 | 7 | 5 | 514 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 374 | 11
2015 | 3,843 | 3,573 | 4,786 | 7 | 0 | 549 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 383 | 10
2016 | 4,538 | 3,634 | 5,674 | 7 | 11 | 648 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 408 | 9
2017 | 4,651 | 4,201 | 6,119 | 7 | 12 | 664 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 460 | 9
2018 | 3,831 | 4,182 | 5,754 | 7 | 18 | 547 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 592 | 13
2019 | 3,692 | 4,284 | 5,167 | 7 | 24 | 527 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 694 | 17
Average | 3,995 | 3,843 | 4,965 | 7 | 12 | 571 | 18 | 12 | 9 | 402 | 10

## History[edit]

The District of Nevada was established by Congress on February 27, 1865, with one post to cover the entire state and was assigned over to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. On July 23, 1866, Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned the District of Nevada over to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Six additional judicial posts were added over time for a total of seven posts.[3]

### Judicial posts[edit]

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of Nevada:[3]

Year  | Statute  | Total Seats

|
|

February 27, 1865 | 13 Stat. 440  | 1
July 23, 1866 | 14 Stat. 209  | 1
February 10, 1954 | 68 Stat. 8  | 2 (1 temporary)
May 19, 1961 | 75 Stat. 80  | 2
October 20, 1978 | 92 Stat. 1629  | 3
July 10, 1984 | 98 Stat. 33  | 4
November 29, 1999 | 113 Stat. 1501  | 6
December 21, 2000 | 114 Stat. 2762  | 7

## Noteworthy events[edit]

### Federal Judicial Conference recommendation (2019)[edit]

In March 2019, the Federal Judicial Conference (FJC) recommended that one judgeship be added to the district.[4] Based on FJC data, the district handled 496 weighted filings per judgeship from September 2017 to September 2018. Weighted filings are a specific metric used by the federal judiciary that accounts for the different amounts of time judges require to resolve types of civil and criminal cases. The national average in that period for weighted filings per judgeship was 513.[5]

The FJC is the policy-making body for the United States federal courts system. It was first organized as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges in 1922.[6] The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States serves as chair of the conference. The members of the conference are the chief judge of each judicial circuit, the Chief Judge of the Court of International Trade, and a district judge from each regional judicial circuit.[7]

## Federal courthouse[edit]

Two separate courthouses serve the District of Nevada. The Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse is the home for the district court in Las Vegas. The building of the courthouse was completed in 2002 and was the first federal building built to comply with the post-Oklahoma City blast resistance requirements.

## About United States District Courts[edit]

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are currently 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.[8][9]

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.[10]

### Appointments by president[edit]

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the first year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Biden made the most district court appointments with 19. President Reagan made 16, the second most for the presidents under study for this period. President Obama had appointed the fewest with three.

### Judges by district[edit]

See also: Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each district and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies in a district and how many pending nominations for that district are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line, and you can navigate through the pages by clicking the arrows at the top of the table. It is updated every Monday.

### Judicial selection[edit]

The district courts are served by Article III federal judges who are appointed for life during "good behavior." They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States makes the appointments, which must then be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.[9]

Step  |  A Candidacy Proceeds  |  A Candidacy Halts

|
|

1\. Recommendation made by Congress Member to the President  |  President Nominates to Senate Judiciary Committee |  President Declines Nomination
2\. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews Candidate  |  Sends candidate to Senate for confirmation  |  Returns candidate to President, who may re-nominate to Committee
3\. Senate votes on candidate confirmation  |  Candidate becomes federal judge  |  Candidate does not receive judgeship

### Magistrate judges[edit]

The district courts are also served by magistrate judges. Congress created the judicial office of federal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed to magistrate judge. The chief judge of each district appoints one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years.[11]

## See also[edit]

* United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
* District of Alaska
* District of Arizona
* Central District of California
* Eastern District of California
* Northern District of California
* Southern District of California
* District of Hawaii
* District of Idaho
* District of Montana
* District of Nevada
* District of Oregon
* Eastern District of Washington
* Western District of Washington
* United States District Court for the District of Guam
* United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands

## External links[edit]

* Search Google News for this topic
* United States District Court - District of Nevada
* US Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ U.S. District Court – NH, "Magistrate Judges of the District Court," accessed April 27, 2021
2. ↑ United States Courts, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed April 23, 2021
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Federal Judicial Center, "District Court for the District of Nevada," accessed April 29, 2021
4. ↑ Federal Judicial Conference, "March 2019 Recommendations," accessed July 25, 2019
5. ↑ US Courts, "Table X-1A—Other Judicial Business (September 30, 2018)," accessed July 24, 2019
6. ↑ US Courts, "Governance & the Judicial Conference," accessed July 25, 2019
7. ↑ US Courts, "About the Judicial Conference," accessed July 25, 2019
8. ↑ US Courts, "Federal Judgeships," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 U.S. Courts, "United States District Court Federal Judiciary Frequently Asked Questions," accessed May 10, 2021 (archived)
10. ↑ United States District Courts, "District Courts," accessed May 10, 2021
11. ↑ The 'Lectric Law Library, "Understanding the U.S. federal courts"

v • e

U.S. Circuit Courts and District Courts

First Circuit

District of Maine • District of Massachusetts • District of New Hampshire • District of Puerto Rico • District of Rhode Island

Second Circuit

District of Connecticut • Eastern District of New York • Northern District of New York • Southern District of New York • Western District of New York • District of Vermont

Third Circuit

District of Delaware • District of New Jersey • Eastern District of Pennsylvania • Middle District of Pennsylvania • Western District of Pennsylvania

Fourth Circuit

District of Maryland • Eastern District of North Carolina • Middle District of North Carolina • Western District of North Carolina • District of South Carolina • Eastern District of Virginia • Western District of Virginia • Northern District of West Virginia • Southern District of West Virginia

Fifth Circuit

Eastern District of Louisiana • Middle District of Louisiana • Western District of Louisiana • Northern District of Mississippi • Southern District of Mississippi • Eastern District of Texas • Northern District of Texas • Southern District of Texas • Western District of Texas

Sixth Circuit

Eastern District of Kentucky • Western District of Kentucky • Eastern District of Michigan • Western District of Michigan • Northern District of Ohio • Southern District of Ohio • Eastern District of Tennessee • Middle District of Tennessee • Western District of Tennessee

Seventh Circuit

Central District of Illinois • Northern District of Illinois • Southern District of Illinois • Northern District of Indiana • Southern District of Indiana • Eastern District of Wisconsin • Western District of Wisconsin

Eighth Circuit

Eastern District of Arkansas • Western District of Arkansas • Northern District of Iowa • Southern District of Iowa • District of Minnesota • Eastern District of Missouri • Western District of Missouri • District of Nebraska • District of North Dakota • District of South Dakota

Ninth Circuit

District of Alaska • District of Arizona • Central District of California • Eastern District of California • Northern District of California • Southern District of California • District of Hawaii • District of Idaho • District of Montana • District of Nevada • District of Oregon • Eastern District of Washington • Western District of Washington

Tenth Circuit

District of Colorado • District of Kansas • District of New Mexico • Eastern District of Oklahoma • Northern District of Oklahoma • Western District of Oklahoma • District of Utah • District of Wyoming

Eleventh Circuit

Middle District of Alabama • Northern District of Alabama • Southern District of Alabama • Middle District of Florida • Northern District of Florida • Southern District of Florida • Middle District of Georgia • Northern District of Georgia • Southern District of Georgia

v • e

Federal judges who have served the United States District Court for the District of Nevada

|

Active judges|

• Gloria M. Navarro • Miranda Du • Jennifer Dorsey • Andrew Gordon (Nevada) • Richard Franklin Boulware II

Senior judges|

Roger Hunt (Nevada) • Kent Dawson • James Mahan (Nevada) • Robert C. Jones • Larry Hicks (Nevada) • Howard McKibben •

Magistrate judges|  Cam Ferenbach • William Cobb • Nancy J. Koppe • Brenda Weksler • Elayna Youchah • Daniel Albregts • Carla Baldwin •
Former Article III judges|

Alexander White Baldwin • Edgar Winters Hillyer • George Myron Sabin • Thomas Porter Hawley • Edward Silsby Farrington • Lloyd George • Edward Reed • Frank Herbert Norcross • Johnnie Rawlinson • Harry Claiborne • Roger Foley • Roger T. Foley • David Hagen (Nevada) • Bruce Thompson (Nevada) • John Rolly Ross • Philip Pro • Brian Sandoval •

Former Chief judges|

Roger Hunt (Nevada) • Lloyd George • Edward Reed • Howard McKibben • Harry Claiborne • Roger Foley • Roger T. Foley • John Rolly Ross • Philip Pro •

Nevada courts

* * *

Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nevada • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nevada

State courts:

Nevada Supreme Court • Nevada Court of Appeals • Nevada District Courts • Nevada Justice Courts • Nevada Municipal Courts • Clark County Family Court, Nevada

State resources:

Courts in Nevada • Nevada judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nevada