District Court · Eighth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
The federal trial court. Juries sit here, evidence is heard here, and almost every federal case begins here.
The bench
Who sits on this court?
Judges in active service, when they were confirmed, and who nominated each.
| Judge | Since | Nominated by | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Louis Filippine Senior | 1977 | Jimmy Carter | MOED0205 |
| Jean Constance Hamilton Senior | 1990 | George H.W. Bush | MOED0503 |
| Catherine D. Perry Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | MOED0111 |
| E. Richard Webber Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | MOED0206 |
| Nanette Kay Laughrey Senior | 1996 | William J. Clinton | MOED0404 |
| Rodney W. Sippel Senior | 1997 | William J. Clinton | MOED0307 |
| Henry Edward Autrey | 2002 | George W. Bush | MOED0702 |
| Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Jr. Senior | 2008 | George W. Bush | MOED0802 |
| Audrey Goldstein Fleissig Senior | 2010 | Barack Obama | MOED0207 |
| John Andrew Ross Senior | 2011 | Barack Obama | MOED0902 |
| Brian Curtis Wimes | 2012 | Barack Obama | MOED0405 |
| Stephen Robert Clark Sr. | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | MOED0603 |
| Sarah Elizabeth Pitlyk | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | MOED0112 |
| Matthew Thomas Schelp | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | MOED0803 |
| Joshua Michael Divine | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | MOED0308 |
| Cristian Matthew Stevens | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | MOED0208 |
| Zachary Maxwell Bluestone | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | MOED0903 |
| Maria Ann Lanahan | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | MOED0505 |
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
- 18
- Seat numbers on record
- 49
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOED0111 | Catherine D. Perry | 1994 | 1 |
| MOED0112 | Sarah Elizabeth Pitlyk | 2019 | 1 |
| MOED0205 | Edward Louis Filippine | 1977 | 1 |
| MOED0206 | E. Richard Webber | 1995 | 1 |
| MOED0207 | Audrey Goldstein Fleissig | 2010 | 1 |
| MOED0208 | Cristian Matthew Stevens | 2025 | 1 |
| MOED0307 | Rodney W. Sippel | 1997 | 1 |
| MOED0308 | Joshua Michael Divine | 2025 | 1 |
| MOED0404 | Nanette Kay Laughrey | 1996 | 1 |
| MOED0405 | Brian Curtis Wimes | 2012 | 1 |
| MOED0503 | Jean Constance Hamilton | 1990 | 1 |
| MOED0505 | Maria Ann Lanahan | 2025 | 1 |
| MOED0603 | Stephen Robert Clark Sr. | 2019 | 1 |
| MOED0702 | Henry Edward Autrey | 2002 | 1 |
| MOED0802 | Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Jr. | 2008 | 1 |
| MOED0803 | Matthew Thomas Schelp | 2020 | 1 |
| MOED0902 | John Andrew Ross | 2011 | 1 |
| MOED0903 | Zachary Maxwell Bluestone | 2025 | 1 |
31 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOED0101 | Samuel Treat | 1887 | 1 |
| MOED0102 | Amos Madden Thayer | 1894 | 1 |
| MOED0103 | Henry Samuel Priest | 1895 | 1 |
| MOED0104 | Elmer Bragg Adams | 1905 | 1 |
| MOED0105 | Gustavus Adolphus Finkelnburg | 1907 | 1 |
| MOED0106 | David Patterson Dyer | 1924 | 1 |
| MOED0107 | Charles Breckenridge Faris | 1935 | 1 |
| MOED0108 | George Moore | 1962 | 1 |
| MOED0109 | James Hargrove Meredith | 1988 | 1 |
| MOED0110 | Clyde S. Cahill Jr. | 2004 | 1 |
| MOED0201 | Charles B. Davis | 1943 | 1 |
| MOED0202 | Rubey Mosley Hulen | 1956 | 1 |
| MOED0203 | Randolph Henry Weber | 1961 | 1 |
| MOED0204 | John Keating Regan | 1987 | 1 |
| MOED0301 | John Caskie Collet | 1947 | 1 |
| MOED0302 | Roy Winfield Harper | 1947 | 1 |
| MOED0303 | Roy Winfield Harper | 1948 | 1 |
| MOED0304 | Roy Winfield Harper | 1994 | 1 |
| MOED0305 | Harris Kenneth Wangelin | 1987 | 1 |
| MOED0306 | Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh | 2008 | 1 |
| MOED0401 | Richard M. Duncan | 1974 | 1 |
| MOED0402 | William Robert Collinson | 1995 | 1 |
| MOED0403 | Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. | 1998 | 1 |
| MOED0501 | William Hedgcock Webster | 1973 | 1 |
| MOED0502 | John Francis Nangle | 2008 | 1 |
| MOED0504 | Ronnie Lee White | 2024 | 1 |
| MOED0601 | William Leonard Hungate | 1992 | 1 |
| MOED0602 | Carol E. Jackson | 2017 | 1 |
| MOED0701 | George F. Gunn Jr. | 1998 | 1 |
| MOED0801 | Donald J. Stohr | 2015 | 1 |
| MOED0901 | Charles Alexander Shaw | 2020 | 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
- 10
- Democratic
- 8
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Donald J. Trump | 7 |
| William J. Clinton | 4 |
| Barack Obama | 3 |
| George W. Bush | 2 |
| Jimmy Carter | 1 |
| George H.W. Bush | 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)