United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
(E.D. Wash.)
Map of the court's jurisdiction by county
Location	Thomas S. Foley Courthouse (Spokane) More locations William O. Douglas Federal Building (Yakima) Federal Building (Richland)
Appeals to	Ninth Circuit
Established	March 2, 1905
Judges	4
Chief Judge	Stanley Bastian
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Pete Serrano (special attorney)
U.S. Marshal	Craig Thayer
www.waed.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington (in case citations, E.D. Wash.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of the state of Washington: Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima.

As of the 2000 United States census, 1.3 million people resided in the Eastern District, representing 22% of the state's population. The district includes the cities of Richland, Spokane, and Yakima, among others. The Federal Court in Yakima is located in the William O. Douglas Federal Building.

Cases from the Eastern District of Washington are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.

Pete Serrano was appointed interim United States attorney on August 11, 2025. The interim term expired on December 11, at which point he continued in the same leadership role under a new title, First Assistant and Special Attorney to the Attorney General of the United States for the Eastern District of Washington. ^{[1] [2]}

Current judges

As of December 9,2024 ^[update] :

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
22	Chief Judge	Stanley Bastian	Yakima	1958	2014–present	2020–present	—	Obama
21	District Judge	Thomas O. Rice	Spokane	1960	2012–present	2016–2020	—	Obama
24	District Judge	Mary Dimke	Richland	1977	2021–present	—	—	Biden
25	District Judge	Rebecca L. Pennell	Spokane	1971	2024–present	—	—	Biden
15	Senior Judge	William Fremming Nielsen	inactive	1934	1991–2003	1995–2000	2003–present	G.H.W. Bush
17	Senior Judge	Robert H. Whaley	Spokane	1943	1995–2009	2005–2009	2009–present	Clinton
18	Senior Judge	Edward F. Shea	Richland	1942	1998–2012	—	2012–present	Clinton
19	Senior Judge	Lonny R. Suko	Yakima	1943	2003–2013	2009–2011	2013–present	G.W. Bush
20	Senior Judge	Rosanna M. Peterson	inactive	1951	2010–2021	2011–2016	2021–present	Obama

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Edward Whitson	WA	1852–1910	1905–1910	—	—	T. Roosevelt	death
2	Frank H. Rudkin	WA	1864–1931	1911–1923	—	—	Taft	elevation
3	J. Stanley Webster	WA	1877–1962	1923–1939 [Note 1]	—	1939–1962	Harding [Note 2]	death
4	Lloyd Llewellyn Black	WA	1889–1950	1940–1950 [Note 3]	—	—	F. Roosevelt /Operation of law	death
5	Lewis B. Schwellenbach	WA	1894–1948	1940–1945	—	—	F. Roosevelt	resignation
6	Samuel Marion Driver	WA	1892–1958	1946–1958	1948–1958	—	Truman	death
7	William James Lindberg	WA	1904–1981	1951–1961 [Note 4]	—	—	Truman	reassignment
8	Charles Lawrence Powell	WA	1902–1975	1959–1972	1959–1972	1972–1975	Eisenhower	death
9	William Nelson Goodwin	WA	1909–1975	1966–1975 [Note 4]	1972–1973	—	L. Johnson	death
10	Marshall Allen Neill	WA	1914–1979	1972–1979	1973–1979	—	Nixon	death
11	Jack Edward Tanner	WA	1919–2006	1978 [Note 4]	—	—	Carter	reassignment
12	Robert James McNichols	WA	1922–1992	1979–1991	1980–1989	1991–1992	Carter	death
13	Justin L. Quackenbush	WA	1929–2024	1980–1995	1989–1995	1995–2024	Carter	death
14	Alan Angus McDonald	WA	1927–2007	1985–1996	—	1996–2007	Reagan	death
16	Frederick L. Van Sickle	WA	1943–2021	1991–2008	2000–2005	2008–2021	G.H.W. Bush	death
23	Salvador Mendoza Jr.	WA	1971–present	2014–2022	—	—	Obama	elevation

1. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 15, 1923, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 16, 1924, and received commission the same day.
2. Initially appointed via recess appointment by Harding; formally nominated by and received commission from Coolidge.
3. Black was initially appointed to the Western District of Washington in 1939; he was reassigned by operation of law to serve in both districts.
4. Jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington.

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 March 2, 1905 by 33 Stat. 824 Whitson 1905–1910 Rudkin 1911–1923 Webster 1924–1939 Schwellenbach 1940–1945 Driver 1946–1958 Powell 1959–1972 Neill 1972–1979 Quackenbush 1980–1995 Whaley 1995–2009 Rice 2012–present

Seat 2 Seat assigned on January 20, 1940 by 54 Stat. 16 (concurrent with Western District) Black 1940–1950 Lindberg 1951–1961 Seat reassigned solely to Western District on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80

Seat 3 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 (concurrent with Western District) Goodwin 1966–1975 Tanner 1978 Seat reassigned solely to Western District on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629

Seat 4 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 McNichols 1979–1991 Nielsen 1991–2003 Suko 2003–2013 Mendoza Jr. 2014–2022 Pennell 2024–present

Seat 5 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 McDonald 1985–1996 Shea 1998–2012 Bastian 2014–present

Seat 6 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Van Sickle 1991–2008 Peterson 2010–2021 Dimke 2021–present

See also

• Courts of Washington
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Washington

References

1. "Eastern District of Washington | Interim U.S. Attorney | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. March 1, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
2. Cornfield, Jerry (December 12, 2025). "Workaround will keep WA's Pete Serrano in federal prosecutor job". Washington State Standard. Retrieved December 12, 2025.

External links

• Official website

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