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    United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

    From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 6 min
    Eastern District of Oklahoma
    Tenth Circuit
    Fedbadgesmall.png
    Judgeships
    Posts: 2
    Judges: 2
    Vacancies: 0
    Judges
    Chief: Ronald White
    Active judges: John Heil III, Ronald White

    Senior judges:
    James Payne, Frank Seay


    The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma is one of 94 United States district courts. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit based in downtown Denver, Colorado, at the Byron White Federal Courthouse.

    Vacancies[edit]

    See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

    There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, out of the court's two judicial positions.

    Pending nominations[edit]

    There are no pending nominees for this court.


    Active judges[edit]

    Article III judges[edit]


    Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

    Ronald White

    George W. Bush (R)

    		October 2, 2003 -

    University of Oklahoma, 1983

    University of Oklahoma College of Law, 1986

    John Heil III

    Donald Trump (R)

    		May 27, 2020 -

    Oklahoma State University, 1990

    University of Tulsa College of Law, 1994


    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: 0
    • Republican appointed: 2

    Senior judges[edit]

    Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

    Frank Seay

    Jimmy Carter (D)

    		September 25, 2003 -

    University of Oklahoma, 1961

    University of Oklahoma College of Law, 1966

    James Payne

    George W. Bush (R)

    		August 1, 2017 -

    University of Oklahoma, 1963

    University of Oklahoma College of Law, 1966


    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: 1
    • Republican appointed: 1

    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

    Kimberly West

    Steven Shreder


    Former chief judges[edit]

    In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.[2]

    In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.[3][4][5]

    The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.[3][4][5]

    Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.[2][3][4][5]

    On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the President of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.[6]


    Former judges[edit]

    For more information on the judges of the Eastern District of Oklahoma, see former federal judges of the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

    Jurisdiction[edit]

    The Counties of the Eastern District of Oklahoma (click for larger map)

    The Eastern District of Oklahoma 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 Eastern District of Oklahoma consists of all the counties in the eastern part of the state of Oklahoma.

    Caseloads[edit]

    This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in May 2021. Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.


    United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma 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 634 640 583 2 0 423 13 9 11 7 1
    2011 559 592 549 2 0 373 13 8 13 5 1
    2012 665 628 624 2 0 443 15 8 12 5 1
    2013 706 692 656 2 0 471 11 8 13 7 1
    2014 697 638 723 2 0 465 16 9 13 11 2
    2015 657 743 637 2 0 438 10 7 14 13 2
    2016 736 687 704 2 0 491 15 7 13 16 3
    2017 633 721 631 2 5 422 7 9 12 13 2
    2018 568 627 560 2 12 379 16 7 11 13 3
    2019 618 563 611 2 12 412 13 9 12 27 6
    Average 647 653 628 2 3 432 13 8 12 12 2

    History[edit]

    Federal courts in Oklahoma were established by Congress on June 16, 1906, with one post each for the Western and the Eastern districts. Over time, one additional judicial post was added for a total of two current posts.[7]

    Judicial posts[edit]

    The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Eastern District of Oklahoma:[7]

    Year Statute Total Seats
    June 16, 1906 34 Stat. 267, 275 1
    September 14, 1922 42 Stat. 837 2(1 Temporary)
    February 16, 1925 43 Stat. 945 1 (Temporary reassigned)
    February 16, 1925 43 Stat. 945 1 (Temporary reassigned)
    June 22, 1936 49 Stat. 1804 2(1 Shared for 3 Districts)
    May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 3(2 Shared for 3 Districts)
    December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 2(1 Shared for 3 Districts, 1 Reassigned)

    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 April 1 of the second year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Biden had the most district court appointments with 43, followed by President Clinton with 41. President Obama had appointed the fewest with 11.


    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, "Magistrate Judges of the District Court, accessed May 17, 2021
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 United States Courts, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed January 25, 2022
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 136 - Chief judges; precedence of district judges," accessed January 25, 2022
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 258 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 45 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
    6. ↑ Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 171 - Appointment and number of judges; character of court; designation of chief judge," accessed January 25, 2022
    7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Federal Judicial Center, "U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Oklahoma," accessed May 23, 2021
    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"



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    Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Original source: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Eastern_District_of_Oklahoma
    Status: cached on April 18 2022 09:12:38
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