United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois | |
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(S.D. Ill.) | |
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Map indicating the changing Districts of Illinois | |
Location | Melvin Price Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse |
Appeals to | Seventh Circuit |
Established | February 13, 1855 |
Judges | 4 |
Chief Judge | Michael Joseph Reagan |
Officers of the court | |
U.S. Marshal | Bradley A. Maxwell |
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The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (in case citations, S.D. Ill.) is a Federal district court covering approximately the southern half of the state of Illinois.
Appeals from the Southern District of Illinois are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
It has three courthouses, at Benton, Cairo and East St. Louis. At present, four judges are assigned to this district.
History
The United States District Court for the District of Illinois was established by a statute passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819, 3 Stat. 502.[1][2] The act established a single office for a judge to preside over the court. Initially, the court was not within any existing judicial circuit, so the district court exercised the jurisdiction of both a district court and a circuit court, with appeals and writs of error taken directly to the United States Supreme Court. In 1837, Congress placed the District of Illinois within the newly created Seventh Circuit, and the district court resumed its normal jurisdiction, 5 Stat. 176.[2]
The Southern District itself was created by a statute passed on February 13, 1855, 10 Stat. 606, which subdivided the District of Illinois into the Northern and the Southern Districts.[2] The boundaries of the District and the seats of the courts were set forth in the statute:
The counties of Hancock, McDonough, Peoria, Woodford, Livingston, and Iroquois, and all the counties in the said State north of them, shall compose one district, to be called the northern district of Illinois, and courts shall be held for the said district at the city of Chicago; and the residue of the counties of the said State shall compose another district, to be called the southern district of Illinois, and courts shall be held for the same at the city of Springfield.
The district has since been re-organized several times. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois was created on March 3, 1905 by 33 Stat. 992,[2] by splitting counties out of the Northern and Southern Districts. It was later eliminated in a reorganization on October 2, 1978 which replaced it with a Central District, 92 Stat. 883,[2] formed primarily from parts of the Southern District, and returning some counties to the Northern District.
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the Southern District of Illinois comprises the following counties: Alexander, Bond, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, and Williamson. The district was created in 1979. It has jurisdiction over the eastern suburbs of St. Louis and the city of Carbondale.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current interim United States Attorney is Donald S. Boyce, Jr..[3]
Current Judges
# | Title | Judge | Duty station | Born | Term of service | Appointed by | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active | Chief | Senior | ||||||
20 | Chief Judge | Michael Joseph Reagan | East St. Louis, IL | 1954 | 2000–present | 2014–present | — | Clinton |
19 | District Judge | David R. Herndon | East St. Louis, IL | 1953 | 1998–present | 2007–2014 | — | Clinton |
21 | District Judge | Nancy J. Rosenstengel | East St. Louis, IL | 1968 | 2014–present | — | — | Obama |
22 | District Judge | Staci Michelle Yandle | Benton, IL | 1961 | 2014–present | — | — | Obama |
16 | Senior Judge | John Phil Gilbert | Benton, IL | 1949 | 1992–2014 | 1993–2000 | 2014–present | G.H.W. Bush |
Vacancies and pending nominations
Seat | Seat last held by | Vacancy reason | Date of vacancy | Nominee | Date of nomination |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | David R. Herndon | Retirement | January 7, 2019[4] | – | – |
7 | Michael Joseph Reagan | March 31, 2019[4] | – | – |
Former judges
# | Judge | State | Born–died | Active service | Chief Judge | Senior status | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
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1 | Samuel Hubbel Treat Jr. | IL | 1811–1887 | 1855–1887 | — | — | Pierce | death |
2 | William Joshua Allen | IL | 1829–1901 | 1887–1901[Note 1] | — | — | Cleveland | death |
3 | J. Otis Humphrey | IL | 1850–1918 | 1901–1918 | — | — | McKinley | death |
4 | Louis FitzHenry | IL | 1870–1935 | 1918–1933 | — | — | Wilson | appointment to 7th Cir. |
5 | Charles Guy Briggle | IL | 1883–1972 | 1932–1958 | 1948–1958 | 1958–1972 | Hoover | death |
6 | James Earl Major | IL | 1887–1972 | 1933–1937[Note 2] | — | — | F. Roosevelt | appointment to 7th Cir. |
7 | J. Leroy Adair | IL | 1887–1956 | 1937–1956 | — | — | F. Roosevelt | death |
8 | Frederick Olen Mercer | IL | 1901–1966 | 1956–1966 | 1958–1966 | — | Eisenhower | death |
— | William George Juergens | IL | 1904–1988 | — | — | 1979–1988[Note 3] | Eisenhower | death |
9 | Omer Poos | IL | 1902–1976 | 1958–1973 | 1966–1972 | 1973–1976 | Eisenhower | death |
10 | Robert Dale Morgan | IL | 1912–2002 | 1967–1979 | 1972–1979 | — | L. Johnson | reassignment to C.D. Ill. |
11 | James L. Foreman | IL | 1927–2012 | 1979–1992[Note 4] | 1979–1992 | 1992–2012 | Nixon | death |
12 | Harlington Wood Jr. | IL | 1920–2008 | 1973–1976 | — | — | Nixon | appointment to 7th Cir. |
13 | James Waldo Ackerman | IL | 1926–1984 | 1976–1979 | — | — | Ford | reassignment to C.D. Ill. |
14 | William Louis Beatty | IL | 1925–2001 | 1979–1992 | — | 1992–2001 | Carter | death |
15 | William Donald Stiehl | IL | 1925–2016 | 1986–1996 | 1992–1993 | 1996–2016 | Reagan | death |
17 | Paul E. Riley | IL | 1942–2001 | 1994–2001 | — | — | Clinton | death |
18 | G. Patrick Murphy | IL | 1948–present | 1998–2013 | 2000–2007 | — | Clinton | retirement |
- ↑ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 20, 1887, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 19, 1888, and received commission on January 19, 1888.
- ↑ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 8, 1934, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 23, 1934, and received commission on January 26, 1934.
- ↑ Reassigned from Eastern District
- ↑ Reassigned from Eastern District
Chief judges
Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.
When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.
Succession of seats
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See also
Notes
- ↑ Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 393.
- 1 2 3 4 5 U.S. District Courts of Illinois, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.
- ↑ Southern District of Illinois, USAO, Department of Justice, July 29, 2016
- 1 2 Future Judicial Vacancies