United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
(W.D. Tex.)
Location San Antonio, Texas
Appeals to Fifth Circuit
Established February 21, 1857
Judges assigned 13
Chief judge Samuel Frederick Biery Jr.
Official site

The United States District Court For the Western District Of Texas (in case citations, W.D. Tex.) is a Federal district court. The court convenes in San Antonio with divisions in Austin, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Pecos, and Waco. It has jurisdiction in over 50 Trans-Pecos, Permian Basin and Hill Country counties of the U.S. state of Texas. This district covers over 92,000 square miles (240,000 km2) and seven divisions.

Contents

History

The first federal judge in Texas was John C. Watrous, who was appointed on May 26, 1846, and had previously served as Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He was assigned to hold court in Galveston, at the time, the largest city in the state. As seat of the Texas Judicial District, the Galveston court had jurisdiction over the whole state.[1] On February 21, 1857, the state was divided into two districts, Eastern and Western, with Judge Watrous continuing in the Eastern district.[2] Judge Watrous and Judge Thomas H. DuVal, of the Western District of Texas, left the state on the secession of Texas from the Union, the only two United States Judges not to resign their posts in states that seceded. When Texas was restored to the Union, Watrous and DuVal resumed their duties and served until 1870.

Divisions

Appeals from cases brought in the Western District of Texas are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The divisions of the Western District of Texas are:

The Honorable Samuel Frederick Biery Jr. is the Chief Judge of the W. D. Texas District Court.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. John E. Murphy is the Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas since the resignation of Johnny Sutton on April 19, 2009.

Current judges

# Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
27 Chief Judge Samuel Frederick Biery Jr. San Antonio 1947 1994–present 2010–present — Clinton
24 District Judge Walter Scott Smith, Jr. Waco 1940 1984–present 2003–2010 — Reagan
26 District Judge Sam Sparks Austin 1939 1991–present — — G.H.W. Bush
29 District Judge Orlando Luis Garcia San Antonio 1952 1994–present — — Clinton
31 District Judge Philip Ray Martinez El Paso 1957 2002–present — — G.W. Bush
32 District Judge Alia M. Ludlum Del Rio 1962 2002–present — — G.W. Bush
33 District Judge Robert A. Junell Midland 1947 2003–present — — G.W. Bush
34 District Judge Kathleen Cardone El Paso 1953 2003–present — — G.W. Bush
35 District Judge Earl Leroy Yeakel III Austin 1945 2003–present — — G.W. Bush
36 District Judge Frank Montalvo El Paso 1956 2003–present — — G.W. Bush
37 District Judge Xavier Rodriguez San Antonio 1961 2003–present — — G.W. Bush
— District Judge (vacant) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
— District Judge (vacant) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a) (n/a)
19 Senior District Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth Austin 1935 1979–2001 1992–1999 2001–present Carter
22 Senior District Judge James Robertson Nowlin Austin 1937 1981–2003 1999–2003 2003–present Reagan
30 Senior District Judge David Briones El Paso 1943 1994–2009 (none) 2009–present Clinton

Former judges

Judge Appointed by Began active
service		 Ended active
service		 Ended senior
status		 End reason
Charles Albert Boynton Calvin Coolidge 01924-12-17 December 17, 1924 01947-05-01 May 1, 1947 01954-10-12 October 12, 1954 death
Lucius Desha Bunton III Jimmy Carter 01979-11-27 November 27, 1979 01992-12-01 December 1, 1992 02001-01-17 January 17, 2001 death
Thomas Howard DuVal Franklin Pierce 01857-03-03 March 3, 1857 01880-10-10 October 10, 1880 – death
Hipolito Frank Garcia Jimmy Carter 01980-09-30 September 30, 1980 02002-01-16 January 16, 2002 – death
William Royal Furgeson, Jr. Bill Clinton 01994-03-10 March 10, 1994 02008-11-30 November 30, 2008 – moved [3]
Emilio M. Garza Ronald Reagan 01988-04-20 April 20, 1988 01991-06-07 June 7, 1991 – reappointment
Ernest Allen Guinn Lyndon B. Johnson 01966-07-27 July 27, 1966 01974-06-09 June 9, 1974 – death
Walter Angus Keeling Franklin D. Roosevelt 01942-01-28 January 28, 1942 01945-01-22 January 22, 1945 – death
Thomas Sheldon Maxey Grover Cleveland 01888-06-25 June 25, 1888 01916-12-12 December 12, 1916 – retirement
Robert Johnston McMillan Herbert Hoover 01932-01-19 January 19, 1932 01941-10-27 October 27, 1941 – death
Edward C. Prado Ronald Reagan 01984-03-30 March 30, 1984 02003-05-13 May 13, 2003 – reappointment
Ben Herbert Rice, Jr. Harry S. Truman 01945-09-28 September 28, 1945 01964-03-14 March 14, 1964 – death
Jack Roberts Lyndon B. Johnson 01966-07-22 July 22, 1966 01980-05-01 May 1, 1980 01988-02-27 February 27, 1988 death
William S. Sessions Gerald Ford 01974-12-20 December 20, 1974 01987-11-01 November 1, 1987 – resignation
Clyde Frederick Shannon Jr. Jimmy Carter 01980-06-18 June 18, 1980 01984-01-01 January 1, 1984 – resignation
William Robert Smith Woodrow Wilson 01917-04-12 April 12, 1917 01924-08-16 August 16, 1924 – death
Adrian Anthony Spears John F. Kennedy 01961-10-05 October 5, 1961[4] 01979-10-10 October 10, 1979 01982-12-31 December 31, 1982 resignation
Dorwin Wallace Suttle Lyndon B. Johnson 01964-07-02 July 2, 1964 01979-10-10 October 10, 1979 02001-09-29 September 29, 2001 death
R. Ewing Thomason Harry S. Truman 01947-06-05 June 5, 1947 01963-06-01 June 1, 1963 01973-11-08 November 8, 1973 death
Homer Thornberry John F. Kennedy 01963-12-17 December 17, 1963 01965-07-02 July 2, 1965 – reappointment
Ezekiel B. Turner Rutherford B. Hayes 01880-11-18 November 18, 1880[5] 01888-06-02 June 2, 1888 – death
DuVal West Woodrow Wilson 01916-12-21 December 21, 1916 01931-11-30 November 30, 1931 01949-05-13 May 13, 1949 death
John H. Wood, Jr. Richard Nixon 01970-12-01 December 1, 1970 01979-05-29 May 29, 1979 – death

See also

Notes

  1. ^ U.S. Department of Justice: 2002 Centennial Report, pgs. 1, 10
  2. ^ Southern District of Texas: History of the District
  3. ^ As of 2008, sitting in N.D. Tex.
  4. ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the United States Senate on March 16, 1962, and received commission on March 17, 1962.
  5. ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 14, 1880, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 1880, and received commission on December 20, 1880.

External links