District Court · Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Southern 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Herbert Rice Senior | 1980 | Jimmy Carter | OHSD0503 |
| Herman Jacob Weber Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | OHSD0901 |
| James L. Graham Senior | 1986 | Ronald Reagan | OHSD0308 |
| Sandra Shank Beckwith Senior | 1992 | George H.W. Bush | OHSD1001 |
| Susan J. Dlott Senior | 1995 | William J. Clinton | OHSD0603 |
| Edmund A. Sargus Jr. | 1996 | William J. Clinton | OHSD0702 |
| Algenon L. Marbley | 1997 | William J. Clinton | OHSD0802 |
| Thomas M. Rose Senior | 2002 | George W. Bush | OHSD0902 |
| Michael H. Watson Senior | 2004 | George W. Bush | OHSD0309 |
| Michael Ryan Barrett Senior | 2006 | George W. Bush | OHSD0504 |
| Timothy Seymour Black Senior | 2010 | Barack Obama | OHSD1002 |
| Sarah Daggett Morrison | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | OHSD0208 |
| Douglas Russell Cole | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | OHSD0604 |
| Matthew Walden McFarland | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | OHSD0903 |
| Michael Jay Newman | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | OHSD0505 |
| Jeffery Paul Hopkins | 2022 | Joseph R. Biden | OHSD1003 |
| Matthew Richard Byrne | 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
- 42
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHSD0208 | Sarah Daggett Morrison | 2019 | 1 |
| OHSD0308 | James L. Graham | 1986 | 1 |
| OHSD0309 | Michael H. Watson | 2004 | 1 |
| OHSD0503 | Walter Herbert Rice | 1980 | 1 |
| OHSD0504 | Michael Ryan Barrett | 2006 | 1 |
| OHSD0505 | Michael Jay Newman | 2020 | 1 |
| OHSD0603 | Susan J. Dlott | 1995 | 1 |
| OHSD0604 | Douglas Russell Cole | 2019 | 1 |
| OHSD0702 | Edmund A. Sargus Jr. | 1996 | 1 |
| OHSD0802 | Algenon L. Marbley | 1997 | 1 |
| OHSD0901 | Herman Jacob Weber | 1985 | 1 |
| OHSD0902 | Thomas M. Rose | 2002 | 1 |
| OHSD0903 | Matthew Walden McFarland | 2019 | 1 |
| OHSD1001 | Sandra Shank Beckwith | 1992 | 1 |
| OHSD1002 | Timothy Seymour Black | 2010 | 1 |
| OHSD1003 | Jeffery Paul Hopkins | 2022 | 1 |
26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHSD0101 | Humphrey Howe Leavitt | 1871 | 1 |
| OHSD0102 | Philip Bergen Swing | 1882 | 1 |
| OHSD0103 | William White | 1883 | 1 |
| OHSD0104 | George Read Sage | 1898 | 1 |
| OHSD0105 | Albert Clifton Thompson | 1910 | 1 |
| OHSD0201 | John Elbert Sater | 1908 | 1 |
| OHSD0202 | John Elbert Sater | 1924 | 1 |
| OHSD0203 | Benson W. Hough | 1935 | 1 |
| OHSD0204 | Mell Gilbert Underwood | 1972 | 1 |
| OHSD0205 | Joseph Peter Kinneary | 2003 | 1 |
| OHSD0206 | George Curtis Smith | 2020 | 1 |
| OHSD0207 | Gregory L. Frost | 2016 | 1 |
| OHSD0301 | Howard Clark Hollister | 1919 | 1 |
| OHSD0302 | John Weld Peck | 1923 | 1 |
| OHSD0303 | Smith Hickenlooper | 1929 | 1 |
| OHSD0304 | Robert Reasoner Nevin | 1952 | 1 |
| OHSD0305 | Lester LeFevre Cecil | 1959 | 1 |
| OHSD0306 | Carl Andrew Weinman | 1979 | 1 |
| OHSD0307 | Robert Morton Duncan | 1985 | 1 |
| OHSD0401 | John H. Druffel | 1967 | 1 |
| OHSD0501 | John Weld Peck II | 1966 | 1 |
| OHSD0502 | Timothy Sylvester Hogan | 1989 | 1 |
| OHSD0601 | David Stewart Porter | 1989 | 1 |
| OHSD0602 | S. Arthur Spiegel | 2014 | 1 |
| OHSD0701 | Carl Bernard Rubin | 1995 | 1 |
| OHSD0801 | John David Holschuh | 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
- 11
- Democratic
- 6
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Donald J. Trump | 5 |
| George W. Bush | 3 |
| William J. Clinton | 3 |
| Ronald Reagan | 2 |
| George H.W. Bush | 1 |
| Barack Obama | 1 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 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)