United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Last updated

United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
(S.D. Ind.)
Southern District of Indiana seal.png
Location Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
More locations
  • United States Courthouse (Terre Haute, Indiana)
  • Winfield K. Denton Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
  • Lee H. Hamilton Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse
Appeals to Seventh Circuit
EstablishedApril 21, 1928
Judges5
Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney John E. Childress (acting)
U.S. Marshal Joseph D. McClain
www.insd.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (in case citations, S.D. Ind.) is a federal district court in Indiana. It was created in 1928 by an act of Congress that split Indiana into two separate districts, northern and southern. The Southern District is divided into four divisions, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Evansville, and New Albany. Appeals from the Southern District of Indiana are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit). The court has five judges, four full-time United States magistrate judges and two part-time magistrate judges.

Contents

The courtrooms are located in the Birch Bayh Federal Building in Indianapolis.

History

The United States District Court for the District of Indiana was established on March 3, 1817, by 3  Stat.   390. [1] [2] The District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on April 21, 1928, by 45  Stat.   437. [2] Of all district courts to be subdivided, Indiana existed for the longest time as a single court, 111 years.

Divisions of the Southern District

Indianapolis: Bartholomew County, Boone County, Brown County, Clinton County, Decatur County, Delaware County, Fayette County, Fountain County, Franklin County, Hamilton County, Hancock County, Hendricks County, Henry County, Howard County, Johnson County, Madison County, Marion County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Morgan County, Randolph County, Rush County, Shelby County, Tipton County, Union County, and Wayne County. [3]

Terre Haute: Clay County, Greene County, Knox County, Owen County, Parke County, Putnam County, Sullivan County, Vermillion County, and Vigo County.

Evansville: Daviess County, Dubois County, Gibson County, Martin County, Perry County, Pike County, Posey County, Spencer County, Vanderburgh County, and Warrick County. [4]

New Albany: Clark County, Crawford County, Dearborn County, Floyd County, Harrison County, Jackson County, Jefferson County, Jennings County, Lawrence County, Ohio County, Orange County, Ripley County, Scott County, Switzerland County, and Washington County. [5]

Current judges

As of July 1,2024:

#TitleJudgeDuty stationBornTerm of serviceAppointed by
Active Chief Senior
14Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt Indianapolis
New Albany
19592010–present2021–present Obama
15District Judge James R. Sweeney II Indianapolis
Terre Haute
19612018–present Trump
16District Judge J. P. Hanlon Indianapolis
Terre Haute
19702018–present Trump
17District Judge Matthew P. Brookman Evansville
Indianapolis
19682023–present Biden
18District Judgevacant
7Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker Indianapolis
New Albany
19431984–20141994–20002014–present Reagan
11Senior Judge Richard L. Young Evansville
Indianapolis
19531998–20232009–20162023–present Clinton
12Senior Judge William T. Lawrence inactive19472008–20182018–present G.W. Bush
13Senior Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson Indianapolis
Terre Haute
New Albany
19582010–20242016–20212024–present Obama

Vacancies and pending nominations

SeatPrior judge's duty stationSeat last held byVacancy reasonDate of vacancyNomineeDate of nomination
1 Indianapolis
Terre Haute
New Albany
Jane Magnus-Stinson Senior status July 1, 2024

Former judges

#JudgeStateBorn–diedActive service Chief Judge Senior status Appointed byReason for
termination
1 Robert C. Baltzell IN 1879–19501928–1950 [Note 1] 1950 Coolidge/Operation of law death
2 William Elwood Steckler IN 1913–19951950–19861954–19821986–1995 Truman death
3 Cale James Holder IN 1912–19831954–1983 Eisenhower death
4 Samuel Hugh Dillin IN 1914–20061961–19931982–19841993–2006 Kennedy death
5 James Ellsworth Noland IN 1920–19921966–19861984–19861986–1992 L. Johnson death
6 Gene Edward Brooks IN 1931–20041979–19961987–1994 Carter retirement
8 Larry J. McKinney IN 1944–20171987–20092001–20072009–2017 Reagan death
9 John Daniel Tinder IN 1950–present1987–2007 Reagan elevation to 7th Cir.
10 David Hamilton IN 1957–present1994–20092008–2009 Clinton elevation to 7th Cir.
  1. Reassigned from the District of Indiana.

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

List of U.S. attorneys since 1929

NameTerm startedTerm endedPresidents served under
George Jeffrey [6] 19291933 Herbert Hoover
Val Nolan 19331940 Franklin D. Roosevelt
B. Howard Caughran 19401950Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
Matthew E. Welsh 19501952Harry S. Truman
Marshall Hanley 19521953Harry S. Truman
Jack Brown 19531956 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Don Tabbert 19571961 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Richard P. Stein 19611967 John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
K. Edwin Applegate 19671969Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon
Stanley B. Miller 19701974Richard M. Nixon
John E. Hirschman 19741975Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford
James B. Young 19751977Gerald Ford
Virginia Dill McCarty 19771981 Jimmy Carter
Sarah Evans Barker 19811984 Ronald Reagan
Richard L. Darst 19841984Ronald Reagan
John Daniel Tinder 19841987Ronald Reagan
Bradley L. Williams 19871988Ronald Reagan
Deborah J. Daniels 19881993Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
John J. Thar 19931993George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
Judith A. Stewart [7] [8] 19932000Bill Clinton
Timothy M. Morrison [9] 20002001Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
Susan Brooks 20012007George W. Bush
Timothy M. Morrison 20072010George W. Bush and Barack Obama
Joe Hogsett 20102014Barack Obama
Joshua Minkler 20152021Barack Obama and Donald Trump
Zachary A. Myers 2021present Joe Biden

See also

References

  1. Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 392.
  2. 1 2 "U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Indiana". Federal Judicial Center . Archived from the original on November 8, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  3. "Indianapolis | Southern District of Indiana | United States District Court". www.insd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  4. "Evansville | Southern District of Indiana | United States District Court". www.insd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  5. "New Albany | Southern District of Indiana | United States District Court". www.insd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  6. "The Political Graveyard: U.S. District Attorneys in Indiana". politicalgraveyard.com.
  7. "4 Feb 2000, Page 38 - The Indianapolis Star at Newspapers.com". Indianapolis Star.
  8. "22 May 2000, Page 13 - The Indianapolis Star at Newspapers.com". Indianapolis Star.
  9. "Respected leaders in U.S. Attorney's Office for Southern District retire". www.theindianalawyer.com. March 29, 2011.

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