District Court · Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| James G. Carr Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | OHND0506 |
| Solomon Oliver Jr. Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | OHND1302 |
| Peter C. Economus Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | OHND0702 |
| Donald C. Nugent Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | OHND0902 |
| Patricia Anne Gaughan Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | OHND1202 |
| James S. Gwin Senior | 1997 | William J. Clinton | OHND1003 |
| Dan A. Polster Senior | 1998 | William J. Clinton | OHND0604 |
| John R. Adams | 2003 | George W. Bush | OHND1102 |
| Christopher A. Boyko Senior | 2004 | George W. Bush | OHND1402 |
| Jack Zouhary Senior | 2006 | George W. Bush | OHND0307 |
| Sara Elizabeth Lioi | 2007 | George W. Bush | OHND0804 |
| Benita Yalonda Pearson | 2010 | Barack Obama | OHND0703 |
| Jeffrey James Helmick | 2012 | Barack Obama | OHND0507 |
| Pamela Ann Barker | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | OHND0903 |
| James Ray Knepp II | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | OHND0308 |
| J. Philip Calabrese | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | OHND1403 |
| Bridget Meehan Brennan | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | OHND0605 |
| Charles Esque Fleming | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | OHND1004 |
| David Augustin Ruiz | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | OHND1303 |
| Michael Jason Hendershot | 2026 | Donald J. Trump | OHND1203 |
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
- 20
- Seat numbers on record
- 61
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHND0307 | Jack Zouhary | 2006 | 1 |
| OHND0308 | James Ray Knepp II | 2020 | 1 |
| OHND0506 | James G. Carr | 1994 | 1 |
| OHND0507 | Jeffrey James Helmick | 2012 | 1 |
| OHND0604 | Dan A. Polster | 1998 | 1 |
| OHND0605 | Bridget Meehan Brennan | 2022 | 1 |
| OHND0702 | Peter C. Economus | 1995 | 1 |
| OHND0703 | Benita Yalonda Pearson | 2010 | 1 |
| OHND0804 | Sara Elizabeth Lioi | 2007 | 1 |
| OHND0902 | Donald C. Nugent | 1995 | 1 |
| OHND0903 | Pamela Ann Barker | 2019 | 1 |
| OHND1003 | James S. Gwin | 1997 | 1 |
| OHND1004 | Charles Esque Fleming | 2022 | 1 |
| OHND1102 | John R. Adams | 2003 | 1 |
| OHND1202 | Patricia Anne Gaughan | 1995 | 1 |
| OHND1203 | Michael Jason Hendershot | 2026 | 1 |
| OHND1302 | Solomon Oliver Jr. | 1994 | 1 |
| OHND1303 | David Augustin Ruiz | 2022 | 1 |
| OHND1402 | Christopher A. Boyko | 2005 | 1 |
| OHND1403 | J. Philip Calabrese | 2020 | 1 |
41 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHND0101 | Hiram Willson V. | 1866 | 1 |
| OHND0102 | Charles Taylor Sherman | 1872 | 1 |
| OHND0103 | Martin Welker | 1889 | 1 |
| OHND0104 | Augustus J. Ricks | 1906 | 1 |
| OHND0201 | Francis Joseph Wing | 1905 | 1 |
| OHND0202 | Robert Walker Tayler | 1910 | 1 |
| OHND0203 | William Louis Day | 1914 | 1 |
| OHND0204 | John Hessin Clarke | 1916 | 1 |
| OHND0205 | David C. Westenhaver | 1928 | 1 |
| OHND0206 | Samuel H. West | 1938 | 1 |
| OHND0207 | Robert Nugen Wilkin | 1973 | 1 |
| OHND0208 | Charles Joseph McNamee | 1964 | 1 |
| OHND0301 | John Milton Killits | 1938 | 1 |
| OHND0302 | George Philip Hahn | 1937 | 1 |
| OHND0303 | Frank Le Blond Kloeb | 1976 | 1 |
| OHND0304 | Don John Young | 1996 | 1 |
| OHND0305 | Alvin I. Krenzler | 1992 | 1 |
| OHND0306 | David A. Katz | 2016 | 1 |
| OHND0401 | Paul J. Jones | 1965 | 1 |
| OHND0402 | William Kernahan Thomas | 2001 | 1 |
| OHND0403 | John William Potter | 2013 | 1 |
| OHND0404 | Kathleen McDonald O'Malley | 2010 | 1 |
| OHND0501 | Emerich B. Freed | 1955 | 1 |
| OHND0502 | Paul Charles Weick | 1959 | 1 |
| OHND0503 | Girard Edward Kalbfleisch | 1990 | 1 |
| OHND0504 | Nicholas Joseph Walinski Jr. | 1992 | 1 |
| OHND0505 | Richard B. McQuade Jr. | 1989 | 1 |
| OHND0601 | James C. Connell | 1973 | 1 |
| OHND0602 | Leroy John Contie Jr. | 1982 | 1 |
| OHND0603 | David Dudley Dowd Jr. | 2016 | 1 |
| OHND0701 | Frank Joseph Battisti | 1994 | 1 |
| OHND0801 | Ben Charles Green | 1983 | 1 |
| OHND0802 | John Michael Manos | 2006 | 1 |
| OHND0803 | Lesley Brooks Wells | 2015 | 1 |
| OHND0901 | Thomas Demetrios Lambros | 1995 | 1 |
| OHND1001 | Robert B. Krupansky | 1982 | 1 |
| OHND1002 | Samuel H. Bell | 2010 | 1 |
| OHND1101 | George Washington White | 2011 | 1 |
| OHND1201 | Ann Aldrich | 2010 | 1 |
| OHND1301 | Alice Moore Batchelder | 1992 | 1 |
| OHND1401 | Paul Ramon Matia | 2005 | 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.
- Democratic
- 12
- Republican
- 8
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| William J. Clinton | 7 |
| George W. Bush | 4 |
| Donald J. Trump | 4 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 3 |
| Barack Obama | 2 |
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)