Court of Appeals
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Hears appeals from the district courts within its circuit. Cases are normally decided by panels of three judges, and its rulings bind every district court in that circuit. For nearly all litigants this is the last court that will hear the case.
The bench
Who sits on this court?
Judges in active service, when they were confirmed, and who nominated each.
| Judge | Since | Nominated by | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephanie Kulp Seymour Senior | 1979 | Jimmy Carter | CA100801 |
| John Carbone Porfilio Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | CA100406 |
| Stephen Hale Anderson Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | CA100901 |
| Bobby Ray Baldock Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | CA100204 |
| Wade Brorby Senior | 1988 | Ronald Reagan | CA100504 |
| David M. Ebel Senior | 1988 | Ronald Reagan | CA100104 |
| Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. Senior | 1992 | George H.W. Bush | CA101101 |
| Mary Beck Briscoe Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | CA100603 |
| Carlos F. Lucero Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | CA101201 |
| Michael R. Murphy Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | CA100304 |
| Harris L. Hartz | 2001 | George W. Bush | CA100205 |
| Terrence L. O'Brien Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | CA100505 |
| Timothy M. Tymkovich | 2003 | George W. Bush | CA100407 |
| Jerome A. Holmes | 2006 | George W. Bush | CA100802 |
| Scott Milne Matheson Jr. | 2010 | Barack Obama | CA100903 |
| Robert Edwin Bacharach | 2013 | Barack Obama | CA100703 |
| Gregory Alan Phillips | 2013 | Barack Obama | CA100506 |
| Carolyn Baldwin McHugh | 2014 | Barack Obama | CA100305 |
| Nancy Louise Moritz | 2014 | Barack Obama | CA101002 |
| Allison Hartwell Eid | 2017 | Donald J. Trump | CA100106 |
| Joel McElroy Carson III | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | CA101102 |
| Veronica Sophia Rossman | 2021 | Joseph R. Biden | CA101202 |
| Richard Edward Neel Federico | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | CA100604 |
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
What seats does this court have?
Each seat on this court, who holds it, and how many judges have held it before.
- Judges seated now
- 23
- Seat numbers on record
- 47
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA100104 | David M. Ebel | 1988 | 1 |
| CA100106 | Allison Hartwell Eid | 2017 | 1 |
| CA100204 | Bobby Ray Baldock | 1985 | 1 |
| CA100205 | Harris L. Hartz | 2001 | 1 |
| CA100304 | Michael R. Murphy | 1995 | 1 |
| CA100305 | Carolyn Baldwin McHugh | 2014 | 1 |
| CA100406 | John Carbone Porfilio | 1985 | 1 |
| CA100407 | Timothy M. Tymkovich | 2003 | 1 |
| CA100504 | Wade Brorby | 1988 | 1 |
| CA100505 | Terrence L. O'Brien | 2002 | 1 |
| CA100506 | Gregory Alan Phillips | 2013 | 1 |
| CA100603 | Mary Beck Briscoe | 1995 | 1 |
| CA100604 | Richard Edward Neel Federico | 2023 | 1 |
| CA100703 | Robert Edwin Bacharach | 2013 | 1 |
| CA100801 | Stephanie Kulp Seymour | 1979 | 1 |
| CA100802 | Jerome A. Holmes | 2006 | 1 |
| CA100901 | Stephen Hale Anderson | 1985 | 1 |
| CA100903 | Scott Milne Matheson Jr. | 2010 | 1 |
| CA101002 | Nancy Louise Moritz | 2014 | 1 |
| CA101101 | Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. | 1992 | 1 |
| CA101102 | Joel McElroy Carson III | 2018 | 1 |
| CA101201 | Carlos F. Lucero | 1995 | 1 |
| CA101202 | Veronica Sophia Rossman | 2021 | 1 |
24 seat numbers with no sitting judge
These are seat numbers in the historical record with nobody currently in them. That usually means the seat was abolished or renumbered, not that it is open today — Congress has changed the size of federal courts many times. Do not read this as a vacancy list.
| Seat | Last held by | Until | Holders |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA100101 | Robert E. Lewis | 1941 | 1 |
| CA100102 | Alfred Paul Murrah | 1975 | 1 |
| CA100103 | William Edward Doyle | 1986 | 1 |
| CA100105 | Neil M. Gorsuch | 2017 | 1 |
| CA100201 | John Hazelton Cotteral | 1933 | 1 |
| CA100202 | Sam Gilbert Bratton | 1963 | 1 |
| CA100203 | Oliver Seth | 1996 | 1 |
| CA100301 | Orie Leon Phillips | 1974 | 1 |
| CA100302 | David Thomas Lewis | 1983 | 1 |
| CA100303 | Monroe G. McKay | 2020 | 1 |
| CA100401 | George Thomas McDermott | 1937 | 1 |
| CA100402 | Robert Lee Williams | 1948 | 1 |
| CA100403 | Walter August Huxman | 1972 | 1 |
| CA100404 | Jean Sala Breitenstein | 1986 | 1 |
| CA100405 | Robert Hugh McWilliams Jr. | 2013 | 1 |
| CA100501 | John Coleman Pickett | 1983 | 1 |
| CA100502 | John Joseph Hickey | 1970 | 1 |
| CA100503 | James Emmett Barrett | 2011 | 1 |
| CA100601 | Delmas Carl Hill | 1989 | 1 |
| CA100602 | James Kenneth Logan | 1998 | 1 |
| CA100701 | William Judson Holloway Jr. | 2014 | 1 |
| CA100702 | Robert Harlan Henry | 2010 | 1 |
| CA100902 | Michael W. McConnell | 2009 | 1 |
| CA101001 | Deanell Reece Tacha | 2011 | 1 |
This site does not publish a vacancy count. Seat identifiers are not stable across court renamings and reorganisations, so a seat that was vacated and refilled can appear empty when it is not. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts publishes the authoritative list of current judicial vacancies: uscourts.gov.
Seats are created by Congress and filled by the President with the Senate's consent. For current vacancies, use the Administrative Office's published list rather than inferring them from this table.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
How this bench was built
Who appointed them?
The tally of presidents who placed the sitting judges on this court.
- Republican
- 12
- Democratic
- 11
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Ronald Reagan | 5 |
| Barack Obama | 5 |
| George W. Bush | 4 |
| William J. Clinton | 3 |
| Donald J. Trump | 2 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 2 |
| George H.W. Bush | 1 |
| Jimmy Carter | 1 |
The party of the president who appointed a judge is a matter of record. How that judge will rule is not, and this site draws no inference from one to the other.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)