# United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in Dallas, Texas with divisions in Fort Worth, Amarillo, Abilene, Lubbock, San Angelo, and Wichita Falls. It has jurisdiction over 100 counties in the northern and central parts of the U.S. state of Texas.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of December 10, 2022, the United States attorney is Leigha Simonton.
Appeals from this court are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which includes Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

## Jurisdiction

The Northern District of Texas has seven court divisions, covering the following counties:
* The Abilene Division, covering Callahan, Eastland, Fisher, Haskell, Howard, Jones, Mitchell, Nolan, Shackelford, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor, and Throckmorton counties.
* The Amarillo Division, covering Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, Swisher, and Wheeler counties.
* The Dallas Division, covering Dallas, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, and Rockwall counties.
* The Fort Worth Division, covering Comanche, Erath, Hood, Jack, Palo Pinto, Parker, Tarrant, and Wise counties.
* The Lubbock Division, covering Bailey, Borden, Cochran, Crosby, Dawson, Dickens, Floyd, Gaines, Garza, Hale, Hockley, Kent, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, Scurry, Terry, and Yoakum counties.
* The San Angelo Division, covering Brown, Coke, Coleman, Concho, Crockett, Glasscock, Irion, Menard, Mills, Reagan, Runnels, Schleicher, Sterling, Sutton, and Tom Green counties.
* The Wichita Falls Division, covering Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cottle, Foard, Hardeman, King, Knox, Montague, Wichita, Wilbarger, and Young counties.

## 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 United States District Court for the District of Texas, the Galveston court had jurisdiction over the whole state. On February 21, 1857, the state was divided into two districts, Eastern and Western, with Judge Watrous continuing in the Eastern district. Judge Watrous and Judge Thomas Howard 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.
In 1879, Texas was further subdivided with the creation of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, using territory taken from both the Eastern and Western districts.
In the twenty-first century, the Northern District of Texas has become a destination for forum shopping by conservative judicial activists who hope to use the conservative lean of the judges to gain favorable ideological decisions.

## Current judges

As of May 15, 2023:
| # | Title | Judge | Duty station | Born | Term of service | Term of service | Term of service | Appointed by |
| # | Title | Judge | Duty station | Born | Active | Chief | Senior | Appointed by |
| 31 | Chief Judge | David C. Godbey | Dallas | 1957 | 2002–present | 2022–present | — | G.W. Bush |
| 29 | District Judge | Sam A. Lindsay | Dallas | 1951 | 1998–present | — | — | Clinton |
| 32 | District Judge | James E. Kinkeade | Dallas | 1951 | 2002–present | — | — | G.W. Bush |
| 33 | District Judge | Jane J. Boyle | Dallas | 1954 | 2004–present | — | — | G.W. Bush |
| 34 | District Judge | Reed O'Connor | Fort Worth | 1965 | 2007–present | — | — | G.W. Bush |
| 35 | District Judge | Karen Gren Scholer | Dallas | 1957 | 2018–present | — | — | Trump |
| 36 | District Judge | Matthew J. Kacsmaryk | Amarillo | 1977 | 2019–present | — | — | Trump |
| 37 | District Judge | Mark T. Pittman | Fort Worth | 1975 | 2019–present | — | — | Trump |
| 38 | District Judge | Brantley Starr | Dallas | 1979 | 2019–present | — | — | Trump |
| 39 | District Judge | James Wesley Hendrix | Lubbock | 1977 | 2019–present | — | — | Trump |
| 40 | District Judge | Ada Brown | Dallas | 1974 | 2019–present | — | — | Trump |
| 41 | District Judge | vacant | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Senior Judge | A. Joe Fish | Dallas | 1942 | 1983–2007 | 2002–2007 | 2007–present | Reagan |
| 22 | Senior Judge | Robert B. Maloney | inactive | 1933 | 1985–2000 | — | 2000–present | Reagan |
| 23 | Senior Judge | Sidney A. Fitzwater | Dallas | 1953 | 1986–2018 | 2007–2014 | 2018–present | Reagan |
| 24 | Senior Judge | Samuel Ray Cummings | Lubbock | 1944 | 1987–2014 | — | 2014–present | Reagan |
| 27 | Senior Judge | Terry R. Means | Fort Worth | 1948 | 1991–2013 | — | 2013–present | G.H.W. Bush |
| 30 | Senior Judge | Barbara M. Lynn | Dallas | 1952 | 1999–2023 | 2016–2022 | 2023–present | Clinton |

## Vacancies and pending nominations

| Seat | Prior judge's duty station | Seat last held by | Vacancy reason | Date of vacancy | Nominee | Date of nomination |
| 10 | Dallas | Barbara M. Lynn | Senior status | May 15, 2023 | – | – |

## Former judges

| # | Judge | State | Born–died | Active service | Chief Judge | Senior status | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
| 1 | Andrew Phelps McCormick | TX | 1832–1916 | 1879–1892 | — | — | Hayes | elevation to 5th Cir. |
| 2 | John B. Rector | TX | 1837–1898 | 1892–1898 | — | — | B. Harrison | death |
| 3 | Edward Roscoe Meek | TX | 1865–1939 | 1899–1935 | — | 1935–1939 | McKinley | death |
| 4 | James Clifton Wilson | TX | 1874–1951 | 1919–1951 | — | — | Wilson | retirement |
| 5 | William Hawley Atwell | TX | 1869–1961 | 1923–1954 | 1948–1954 | 1954–1961 | Harding | death |
| 6 | Thomas Whitfield Davidson | TX | 1876–1974 | 1936–1965 | 1954–1959 | 1965–1974 | F. Roosevelt | death |
| 7 | Joseph Brannon Dooley | TX | 1889–1967 | 1947–1966 | 1959 | 1966–1967 | Truman | death |
| 8 | Joe Ewing Estes | TX | 1903–1989 | 1955–1972 | 1959–1972 | 1972–1989 | Eisenhower | death |
| 9 | Leo Brewster | TX | 1903–1979 | 1961–1973 | 1972–1973 | 1973–1979 | Kennedy | death |
| 10 | Sarah T. Hughes | TX | 1896–1985 | 1961–1975 | — | 1975–1985 | Kennedy | death |
| 11 | William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. | TX | 1909–1985 | 1966–1979 | 1973–1977 | 1979–1985 | L. Johnson | death |
| 12 | Halbert Owen Woodward | TX | 1918–2000 | 1968–1986 | 1977–1986 | 1986–2000 | L. Johnson | death |
| 13 | Robert Madden Hill | TX | 1928–1987 | 1970–1984 | — | — | Nixon | elevation to 5th Cir. |
| 14 | Eldon Brooks Mahon | TX | 1918–2005 | 1972–1989 | — | 1989–2005 | Nixon | death |
| 15 | Robert William Porter | TX | 1926–1991 | 1974–1990 | 1986–1989 | 1990–1991 | Nixon | death |
| 16 | Patrick Higginbotham | TX | 1938–present | 1975–1982 | — | — | Ford | elevation to 5th Cir. |
| 17 | David Owen Belew Jr. | TX | 1920–2001 | 1979–1990 | — | 1990–2001 | Carter | death |
| 18 | Mary Lou Robinson | TX | 1926–2019 | 1979–2016 | — | 2016–2019 | Carter | death |
| 19 | Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr. | TX | 1925–2008 | 1979–1996 | 1989–1995 | 1996–2008 | Carter | death |
| 20 | Jerry Buchmeyer | TX | 1933–2009 | 1979–2003 | 1995–2001 | 2003–2009 | Carter | death |
| 25 | John H. McBryde | TX | 1931–2022 | 1990–2018 | — | 2018–2022 | G.H.W. Bush | death |
| 26 | Jorge Antonio Solis | TX | 1951–2021 | 1991–2016 | 2014–2016 | — | G.H.W. Bush | retirement |
| 28 | Elton Joe Kendall | TX | 1954–present | 1992–2002 | — | — | G.H.W. Bush | resignation |

## Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, 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 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. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.
When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

## Succession of seats

Seat 1 :
| Seat established on February 24, 1879 by 20 Stat. 318 ||
| McCormick | 1879–1892 |
| Rector | 1892–1898 |
| Seat abolished on April 9, 1898 pursuant to 30 Stat. 240 ||
Seat 2 :
| Seat established on February 9, 1898 by 30 Stat. 240 ||||
| Meek | 1899–1935 |
| Davidson | 1936–1965 |
| Taylor, Jr. | 1966–1979 |
| Buchmeyer | 1979–2003 |
| Boyle | 2004–present |
Seat 3 :
| Seat established on February 26, 1919 by 40 Stat. 1183 ||||
| Wilson | 1919–1947 |
| Dooley | 1947–1966 |
| Woodward | 1968–1986 |
| Cummings | 1987–2014 |
| Hendrix | 2019–present |
Seat 4 :
| Seat established on September 14, 1922 by 42 Stat. 837 (temporary) ||||
| Seat made permanent on August 19, 1935 by 49 Stat. 659 ||||
| Atwell | 1923–1954 |
| Estes | 1955–1972 |
| Mahon | 1972–1989 |
| McBryde | 1990–2018 |
| Pittman | 2019–present |
Seat 5 :
| Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 ||||
| Brewster | 1961–1973 |
| Porter | 1974–1990 |
| Solis | 1991–2016 |
| Scholer | 2018–present |
Seat 6 :
| Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 ||||
| Hughes | 1962–1975 |
| Higginbotham | 1975–1982 |
| Fish | 1983–2007 |
| O'Connor | 2007–present |
Seat 7 :
| Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294 ||||
| Hill | 1970–1984 |
| Fitzwater | 1986–2018 |
| Starr | 2019–present |
Seat 8 :
| Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 ||||
| Belew, Jr. | 1979–1990 |
| Means | 1991–2013 |
| Brown | 2019–present |
Seat 9 :
| Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 ||||
| Robinson | 1979–2016 |
| Kacsmaryk | 2019–present |
Seat 10 :
| Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 ||||
| Sanders | 1979–1996 |
| Lynn | 1999–2023 |
| vacant | 2023–present |
Seat 11 :
| Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 ||||
| Maloney | 1985–2000 |
| Godbey | 2002–present |
Seat 12 :
| Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 ||||
| Kendall | 1992–2002 |
| Kinkeade | 2002–present |
Seat 13 :
| Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 ||||
| Lindsay | 1998–present |