United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
(N.D. Tex.)
Location	Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse (Dallas) More locations Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse (Fort Worth) Abilene J. Marvin Jones Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse (Amarillo) Lubbock San Angelo Wichita Falls
Appeals to	Fifth Circuit
Established	February 24, 1879
Judges	12
Chief Judge	Reed O'Connor
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Nancy E. Larson (acting)
www.txnd.uscourts.gov

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 ^[update] , 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. ^[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 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. ^[3]

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. ^{[4] [5]}

Current judges

As of August 1,2025 ^[update] :

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
34	Chief Judge	Reed O'Connor	Fort Worth	1965	2007–present	2025–present	—	G.W. Bush
29	District Judge	Sam A. Lindsay	Dallas	1951	1998–present	—	—	Clinton
31	District Judge	David C. Godbey	Dallas	1957	2002–present	2022–2025	—	G.W. Bush
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
35	District Judge	Karen Gren Scholer	Dallas	1957	2018–present	—	—	Trump
36	District Judge	Matthew 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

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	–	–
11		David C. Godbey		September 17, 2025 [6]	–	–
2		Jane J. Boyle		October 1, 2025 [6]	–	–

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 [7] –1935	—	1935–1939	McKinley	death
4	James Clifton Wilson	TX	1874–1951	1919 [8] –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 [9] –1973	1972–1973	1973–1979	Kennedy	death
10	Sarah T. Hughes	TX	1896–1985	1961 [9] –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
30	Barbara M. Lynn	TX	1952–present	1999–2023	2016–2022	2023–2025	Clinton	retirement

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

See also

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

Notes

1. "U.S. Department of Justice: 2002 Centennial Report, pgs. 1, 10" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
2. "Southern District of Texas: History of the District". Archived from the original on September 17, 2009.
3. U.S. District Courts of Texas, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center .
4. Platof, Emma (December 19, 2018). "By gutting Obamacare, Judge Reed O'Connor handed Texas a win. It wasn't the first time". The Texas Tribune . Retrieved March 30, 2023.
5. Kitchener, Caroline; Marimow, Ann (February 25, 2023). "The Texas judge who could take down the abortion pill". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
6. "Future Judicial Vacancies | United States Courts". www.uscourts.gov.
7. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 13, 1898, confirmed by the United States Senate on February 15, 1899, and received commission the same day.
8. Recess appointment; formally nominated on May 23, 1919, confirmed by the Senate on June 24, 1919, and received commission the same day.
9. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the Senate on March 16, 1962, and received commission on March 17, 1962.

External links

• Official site