United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
(N.D. Miss.)
Location	Oxford More locations Aberdeen Greenville
Appeals to	Fifth Circuit
Established	June 18, 1838
Judges	3
Chief Judge	Debra M. Brown
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Clay Joyner
U.S. Marshal	Daniel McKittrick
www.msnd.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi (in case citations, N.D. Miss.) is a federal court in the Fifth Circuit with facilities in Aberdeen, Greenville, and Oxford.

Appeals from cases brought in the Northern District of Mississippi 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 United States attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of March 1,2021 ^[update] the acting United States attorney is Clay Joyner. ^[1]

Jurisdiction

The northern district comprises three divisions.

1. The Aberdeen Division comprises the counties of Alcorn, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Itawamba, Lee, Lowndes, Monroe, Oktibbeha, Prentiss, Tishomingo, Webster, and Winston.
   The court for the Aberdeen Division is held at Aberdeen, Ackerman, and Corinth.
2. The Oxford Division comprises the counties of Benton, Calhoun, DeSoto, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Pontotoc, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tunica, Union, and Yalobusha.
   The court for the Oxford Division is held at Oxford, Pittsboro, and Pontotoc.
3. The Greenville Division comprises the counties of Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, Grenada, Humphreys, Leflore, Montgomery, Sunflower, and Washington.
   The court for the Greenville Division is held at Clarksdale, Cleveland, and Greenville.

Current judges

As of April 15,2025 ^[update] :

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
16	Chief Judge	Debra M. Brown	Greenville	1963	2013–present	2021–present	—	Obama
17	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
12	Senior Judge	Glen H. Davidson	Aberdeen	1941	1985–2007	2000–2007	2007–present	Reagan
14	Senior Judge	Michael P. Mills	Oxford	1956	2001–2021	2007–2014	2021–present	G.W. Bush
15	Senior Judge	Sharion Aycock	Aberdeen	1955	2007–2025	2014–2021	2025–present	G.W. Bush

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
3	Oxford	Michael P. Mills	Senior status	November 1, 2021	James D. Maxwell II	September 2, 2025
4	Aberdeen	Sharion Aycock		April 15, 2025	Robert P. Chamberlin

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	George Adams	MS	1784–1844	1838 [Note 1] [Note 2]	—	—	Jackson/Operation of law	resignation
2	Samuel J. Gholson	MS	1808–1883	1839–1861 [Note 2]	—	—	Van Buren	resignation
3	Robert Andrews Hill	MS	1811–1900	1866–1891 [Note 2]	—	—	A. Johnson	retirement
4	Henry Clay Niles	MS	1850–1918	1891–1918 [Note 3] [Note 2]	—	—	B. Harrison	death
5	Edwin R. Holmes	MS	1878–1961	1918–1929 [Note 2]	—	—	Wilson	seat abolished
6	Elijah Allen Cox	MS	1887–1974	1929–1957	—	1957–1974	Coolidge	death
7	Claude Feemster Clayton	MS	1909–1969	1958–1967	1966–1967	—	Eisenhower	elevation to 5th Cir.
8	William Colbert Keady	MS	1913–1989	1968–1983	1968–1982	1983–1989	L. Johnson	death
9	Orma Rinehart Smith	MS	1904–1982	1968–1978	—	1978–1982	L. Johnson	death
10	Lyonel Thomas Senter Jr.	MS	1933–2011	1979–1998	1982–1998	1998–2011	Carter	death
11	Neal Brooks Biggers Jr.	MS	1935–2023	1984–2000	1998–2000	2000–2023	Reagan	death
13	W. Allen Pepper Jr.	MS	1941–2012	1999–2012	—	—	Clinton	death

1. Reassigned from the District of Mississippi
2. Jointly appointed to the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi
3. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 10, 1891, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 11, 1892, and received commission the same day

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 reassigned from District of Mississippi on June 18, 1838 by 5 Stat. 247 (concurrent with Southern District) Adams 1838 Gholson 1839–1861 Hill 1866–1891 Niles 1892–1918 Holmes 1918–1929 Seat reassigned solely to Southern District on March 1, 1929 by 45 Stat. 1422

Seat 2 Seat established on March 1, 1929 by 45 Stat. 1422 Cox 1929–1957 Clayton 1958–1967 Smith 1968–1978 Senter, Jr. 1979–1998 Pepper, Jr. 1999–2012 Brown 2013–present

Seat 3 Seat established on March 18, 1966 by 80 Stat. 75 Keady 1968–1983 Biggers, Jr. 1984–2000 Mills 2001–2021 vacant 2021–present

Seat 4 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 Davidson 1985–2007 Aycock 2007–2025 vacant 2025–present

List of U.S. Attorneys

The U.S. Attorney is the chief law enforcement officer for the Northern District of Mississippi. ^[2]

• Samuel F. Butterworth (1838–1841)
• Oscar F. Bledsoe (1841–1848)
• Andrew K. Blythe (1848–1850)
• Woodson T. Ligon (1850–1853)
• Nathaniel S. Price (1853–1854)
• John A. Orr (1854–1857)
• Flavius J. Lovejoy (1857)
• G. W. Wells (1870)
• Thomas Walton (1876–1878)
• Green C. Chandler (1878–1885)
• Charles B. Howry (1885–1889)
• Henry C. Niles (1889–1891)
• Mack A. Montgomery (1891–1893)
• Andrew F. Fox (1893–1896)
• Chapman L. Anderson (1896–1897)
• Mack A. Montgomery (1897–1905)
• William D. Frazee (1905–1912)
• Lester G. Fant (1912–1914)
• Wilson S. Hill (1914–1921)
• J. L. Roberson (1921)
• Samuel E. Oldham (1921–1925)
• John H. Cook (1925–1929)
• Lester G. Fant (1929–1937)
• George T. Mitchell (1937–1942)
• James O. Day (1942–1945)
• Chester I. Sumners (1945–1951)
• Noel H. Malone (1951–1954)
• Chester L. Sumners (1954)
• Thomas R. Ethridge (1954–1961)
• B. Euple Dozier (1961)
• Hosea M. Ray (1961–1981)
• Glen H. Davidson (1981–1985)
• Robert Q. Whitwell (1985–1991)
• Sam J. Beckett (1991–1998)
• Walter K. Locke (1998–2010)
• Peter A. O'Pry (2010–2014)
• Josiah M. Alden (2014–2021)
• W. Clay Joyner (2021–present)

See also

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

Footnotes

1. "US Attorney Lamar Resigns After Decades of Service" (Press release). Oxford, Mississippi: United States Attorney's Office. March 1, 2021.
2. Executive Office for United States Attorneys (1989). Bicentennial Celebration of United States Attorneys, 1789–1989 (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Justice.

Further reading

• David M. Hargrove, Mississippi's Federal Courts: A History. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2019.

External links

• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi

34°22′03″N89°31′14″W / 34.367536°N 89.520681°W / 34.367536; -89.520681