District Court · Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allen Joe Fish Senior | 1983 | Ronald Reagan | TXND0503 |
| Robert B. Maloney Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | TXND1101 |
| Sidney Allen Fitzwater Senior | 1986 | Ronald Reagan | TXND0702 |
| Samuel Ray Cummings Senior | 1987 | Ronald Reagan | TXND0304 |
| Terry R. Means Senior | 1991 | George H.W. Bush | TXND0802 |
| Sam A. Lindsay | 1998 | William J. Clinton | TXND1301 |
| David C. Godbey Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | TXND1102 |
| James E. Kinkeade | 2002 | George W. Bush | TXND1202 |
| Jane J. Boyle Senior | 2004 | George W. Bush | TXND0205 |
| Reed Charles O'Connor | 2007 | George W. Bush | TXND0504 |
| Karen Gren Scholer | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | TXND0604 |
| Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | TXND1002 |
| James Wesley Hendrix | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | TXND0305 |
| Mark Timothy Pittman | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | TXND0405 |
| Brantley David Starr | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | TXND0703 |
| Ada Elene Brown | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | TXND0803 |
| Kasdin Miller Mitchell | 2026 | Donald J. Trump |
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
- 16
- Seat numbers on record
- 40
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXND0205 | Jane J. Boyle | 2004 | 1 |
| TXND0304 | Samuel Ray Cummings | 1987 | 1 |
| TXND0305 | James Wesley Hendrix | 2019 | 1 |
| TXND0405 | Mark Timothy Pittman | 2019 | 1 |
| TXND0503 | Allen Joe Fish | 1983 | 1 |
| TXND0504 | Reed Charles O'Connor | 2007 | 1 |
| TXND0604 | Karen Gren Scholer | 2018 | 1 |
| TXND0702 | Sidney Allen Fitzwater | 1986 | 1 |
| TXND0703 | Brantley David Starr | 2019 | 1 |
| TXND0802 | Terry R. Means | 1991 | 1 |
| TXND0803 | Ada Elene Brown | 2019 | 1 |
| TXND1002 | Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk | 2019 | 1 |
| TXND1101 | Robert B. Maloney | 1985 | 1 |
| TXND1102 | David C. Godbey | 2002 | 1 |
| TXND1202 | James E. Kinkeade | 2002 | 1 |
| TXND1301 | Sam A. Lindsay | 1998 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXND0101 | Andrew Phelps McCormick | 1892 | 1 |
| TXND0102 | John B. Rector | 1898 | 1 |
| TXND0201 | Edward Roscoe Meek | 1939 | 1 |
| TXND0202 | Thomas Whitfield Davidson | 1974 | 1 |
| TXND0203 | William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. | 1985 | 1 |
| TXND0204 | Jerry Buchmeyer | 2009 | 1 |
| TXND0301 | James Clifton Wilson | 1951 | 1 |
| TXND0302 | Joseph Brannon Dooley | 1967 | 1 |
| TXND0303 | Halbert Owen Woodward | 2000 | 1 |
| TXND0401 | William Hawley Atwell | 1961 | 1 |
| TXND0402 | Joe Ewing Estes | 1989 | 1 |
| TXND0403 | Eldon Brooks Mahon | 2005 | 1 |
| TXND0404 | John H. McBryde | 2022 | 1 |
| TXND0501 | Sarah Tilghman Hughes | 1985 | 1 |
| TXND0502 | Patrick Errol Higginbotham | 1982 | 1 |
| TXND0601 | Leo Brewster | 1979 | 1 |
| TXND0602 | Robert William Porter | 1991 | 1 |
| TXND0603 | Jorge Antonio Solis | 2016 | 1 |
| TXND0701 | Robert Madden Hill | 1984 | 1 |
| TXND0801 | David Owen Belew Jr. | 2001 | 1 |
| TXND0901 | Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr. | 2008 | 1 |
| TXND0902 | Barbara M. Lynn | 2025 | 1 |
| TXND1001 | Mary Lou Robinson | 2019 | 1 |
| TXND1201 | Elton Joe Kendall | 2002 | 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
- 16
- Democratic
- 1
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Donald J. Trump | 7 |
| George W. Bush | 4 |
| Ronald Reagan | 4 |
| William J. Clinton | 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)