United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

43°04′25″N89°23′21″W / 43.0737°N 89.3891°W / 43.0737; -89.3891

United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
(W.D. Wis.)
Location	Madison More locations La Crosse Eau Claire Superior
Appeals to	Seventh Circuit
Established	June 30, 1870
Judges	2
Chief Judge	James D. Peterson
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Chadwick Elgersma (acting)
U.S. Marshal	Kim Gaffney
www.wiwd.uscourts.gov

Robert W. Kastenmeier United States Courthouse

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (in case citations, W.D. Wis.) is a federal court in 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 district was established on June 30, 1870. ^[1]

As of July 1,2025 ^[update] the acting United States attorney is Chadwick M. Elgersma. ^[2]

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin is one of two federal judicial districts in Wisconsin. ^[3] Court for the Western District is held at Madison.

The district comprises the following counties: Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Grant, Green, Iowa, Iron, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, La Crosse, Lafayette, Lincoln, Marathon, Monroe, Oneida, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Portage, Price, Richland, Rock, Rusk, Sauk, St. Croix, Sawyer, Taylor, Trempealeau, Vernon, Vilas, Washburn and Wood.

Current judges

As of April 26,2017 ^[update] :

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
11	Chief Judge	James D. Peterson	Madison	1957	2014–present	2017–present	—	Obama
10	District Judge	William M. Conley	Madison	1956	2010–present	2010–2017	—	Obama
8	Senior Judge	Barbara Crabb	inactive	1939	1979–2010	1980–1996 2001–2010	2010–present	Carter

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	James Campbell Hopkins	WI	1819–1877	1870–1877	—	—	Grant	death
2	Romanzo Bunn	WI	1829–1909	1877–1905	—	—	Hayes	retirement
3	Arthur Loomis Sanborn	WI	1850–1920	1905–1920	—	—	T. Roosevelt	death
4	Claude Zeth Luse	WI	1879–1932	1921–1932 [Note 1]	—	—	Harding	death
5	Patrick Thomas Stone	WI	1889–1963	1933–1963	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
6	David Rabinovitz	WI	1908–1986	1964 [Note 2]	—	—	L. Johnson	not confirmed
7	James Edward Doyle	WI	1915–1987	1965–1980	1978–1980	1980–1987	L. Johnson	death
9	John C. Shabaz	WI	1931–2012	1981–2009	1996–2001	2009–2012	Reagan	death

1. Recess appointment; formally nominated on April 14, 1921, confirmed by the United States Senate on April 27, 1921, and received commission the same day
2. Recess appointment; the United States Senate later rejected the appointment

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 June 30, 1870 by 16 Stat. 171 Hopkins 1870–1877 Bunn 1877–1905 Sanborn 1905–1920 Luse 1921–1932 Stone 1933–1963 Rabinovitz 1964–1964 Doyle 1965–1980 Shabaz 1981–2009 Peterson 2014–present

Seat 2 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Crabb 1979–2010 Conley 2010–present

See also

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

References

1. http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/courts_district_wi.html U.S. District Courts of Wisconsin, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
2. "Chadwick Elgersma Named Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin". U.S. Department of Justice (Press release). July 1, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
3. "28 U.S. Code § 130 - Wisconsin". LII / Legal Information Institute.

External links

• United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin