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    United States District Court for the District of Nevada

    From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 7 min

    District of Nevada
    Ninth Circuit
    BlueSeal.png
    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


    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]

    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.


    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 ApprovedA Candidacy Proceeds DefeatedA 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]

    External links[edit]


    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"



    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

    Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Original source: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_District_Court_for_the_District_of_Nevada
    Status: cached on November 18 2021 12:52:19
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