United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
(W.D. Tex.)
Location:	San Antonio, Texas
Appeals to:	Fifth Circuit
Established:	February 21, 1857
Judges assigned:	13
Chief Judge:	Orlando Luis Garcia
http://www.txwd.uscourts.gov/

The United States District Court For the Western District Of Texas (in case citations, W.D. Tex.) is a federal district court. The court convenes in San Antonio with divisions in Austin, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Pecos, and Waco. It has jurisdiction in over 50 Trans-Pecos, Permian Basin, and Hill Country counties of the U.S. state of Texas. This district covers over 92,000 square miles (240,000 km²) and seven divisions.

History

The first federal judge in Texas was John C. Watrous, who was appointed on May 26, 1846, and had previously served as Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He was assigned to hold court in Galveston, at the time, the largest city in the state. As seat of the Texas Judicial District, the Galveston court had jurisdiction over the whole state.^[1] On February 21, 1857, the state was divided into two districts, Eastern and Western, with Judge Watrous continuing in the Eastern district.^[2] Judge Watrous and Judge Thomas H. DuVal, of the Western District of Texas, left the state on the secession of Texas from the Union, the only two United States Judges not to resign their posts in states that seceded. When Texas was restored to the Union, Watrous and DuVal resumed their duties and served until 1870.

Divisions

Appeals from cases brought in the Western District of Texas are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The divisions of the Western District of Texas are:

• Austin Division
• Del Rio Division
• El Paso Division
• Midland-Odessa Division
• Pecos Division
• San Antonio Division
• Waco Division

Judge Orlando Luis Garcia is the Chief Judge of the Western District of Texas District Court.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The office is currently occupied by Richard Durbin who became U.S. Attorney after Robert L. Pitman, the former United States Attorney resigned to take his seat on the federal bench after receiving his judicial commission on December 19, 2014.^[3] Pitman previously served as the interim United States Attorney for the district in 2001, before becoming chief deputy to Johnny Sutton.^[4]

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
29	Chief Judge	Orlando Luis Garcia	San Antonio	1952	1994–present	2016–present	—	Clinton
26	District Judge	Sam Sparks	Austin	1939	1991–present	—	—	G.H.W. Bush
27	District Judge	Samuel Frederick Biery Jr.	San Antonio	1947	1994–present	2010–2015	—	Clinton
31	District Judge	Philip Ray Martinez	El Paso	1957	2002–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
32	District Judge	Alia Moses	Del Rio	1962	2002–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
34	District Judge	Kathleen Cardone	El Paso	1953	2003–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
35	District Judge	Earl Leroy Yeakel III	Austin	1945	2003–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
36	District Judge	Frank Montalvo	El Paso	1956	2003–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
37	District Judge	Xavier Rodriguez	San Antonio	1961	2003–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
38	District Judge	David Campos Guaderrama	El Paso	1954	2012–present	—	—	Obama
39	District Judge	Robert L. Pitman	San Antonio/Austin	1962	2014–present	—	—	Obama
40	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
41	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
22	Senior Judge	James Robertson Nowlin	Austin	1937	1981–2003	1999–2003	2003–present	Reagan
30	Senior Judge	David Briones	El Paso	1943	1994–2009	—	2009–present	Clinton
33	Senior Judge	Robert A. Junell	Midland	1947	2003–2015	—	2015–present	G.W. Bush

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
6	Robert A. Junell	Senior Status	February 13, 2015	Walter David Counts III	March 16, 2016
7	Walter Scott Smith, Jr.	Retirement	September 14, 2016	—	—

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	DuVal, Thomas HowardThomas Howard DuVal	TX	1813–1880	1857–1880	—	—	Pierce, Pierce	death
2	Turner, Ezekiel B.Ezekiel B. Turner	TX	1825–1888	1880–1888[Note 1]	—	—	Hayes, Hayes	death
3	Maxey, Thomas SheldonThomas Sheldon Maxey	TX	1846–1921	1888–1916	—	—	Cleveland, Cleveland	retirement
4	West, DuValDuVal West	TX	1861–1949	1916–1931	—	1931–1949	Wilson, Wilson	death
5	Smith, William RobertWilliam Robert Smith	TX	1863–1924	1917–1924	—	—	Wilson, Wilson	death
6	Boynton, Charles AlbertCharles Albert Boynton	TX	1867–1954	1924–1947	—	1947–1954	Coolidge, Coolidge	death
7	McMillan, Robert JohnstonRobert Johnston McMillan	TX	1885–1941	1932–1941	—	—	Hoover, Hoover	death
8	Keeling, Walter AngusWalter Angus Keeling	TX	1873–1945	1942–1945	—	—	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
9	Rice, Jr., Ben HerbertBen Herbert Rice, Jr.	TX	1889–1964	1945–1964	1948–1962	—	Truman, Truman	death
10	Thomason, R. EwingR. Ewing Thomason	TX	1879–1973	1947–1963	—	1963–1973	Truman, Truman	death
11	Spears, Adrian AnthonyAdrian Anthony Spears	TX	1910–1991	1961–1979[Note 2]	1962–1979	1979–1982	Kennedy, Kennedy	retirement
12	Thornberry, HomerHomer Thornberry	TX	1909–1995	1963–1965	—	—	Kennedy, Kennedy	reappointment
13	Suttle, Dorwin WallaceDorwin Wallace Suttle	TX	1906–2001	1964–1979	—	1979–2001	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
14	Roberts, JackJack Roberts	TX	1910–1988	1966–1980	1979–1980	1980–1988	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
15	Guinn, Ernest AllenErnest Allen Guinn	TX	1905–1974	1966–1974	—	—	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
16	Wood, Jr., John H.John H. Wood, Jr.	TX	1916–1979	1970–1979	—	—	Nixon, Nixon	death
17	Sessions, William S.William S. Sessions	TX	1930–present	1974–1987	1980–1987	—	Ford, Ford	resignation
18	Bunton III, Lucius DeshaLucius Desha Bunton III	TX	1924–2001	1979–1992	1987–1992	1992–2001	Carter, Carter	death
19	Hudspeth, Harry LeeHarry Lee Hudspeth	TX	1935–present	1979–2001	1992–1999	2001–2016	Carter, Carter	retirement
20	Shannon Jr., Clyde FrederickClyde Frederick Shannon Jr.	TX	1942–present	1980–1984	—	—	Carter, Carter	resignation
21	Garcia, Hipolito FrankHipolito Frank Garcia	TX	1925–2002	1980–2002	—	—	Carter, Carter	death
23	Prado, Edward C.Edward C. Prado	TX	1947–present	1984–2003	—	—	Reagan, Reagan	reappointment
24	Smith, Jr., Walter ScottWalter Scott Smith, Jr.	TX	1940–present	1984–2016	2003–2010	—	Reagan, Reagan	retirement
25	Garza, Emilio M.Emilio M. Garza	TX	1947–present	1988–1991	—	—	Reagan, Reagan	reappointment
28	Furgeson, Jr., William RoyalWilliam Royal Furgeson, Jr.	TX	1941–present	1994–2008	—	2008–2013	Clinton, Clinton	retirement

1. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 14, 1880, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 1880, and received commission on December 20, 1880.
2. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the United States Senate on March 16, 1962, and received commission on March 17, 1962.

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat established on February 21, 1857 by 11 Stat. 164 DuVal 1857–1880 Turner 1880–1888 Maxey 1888–1916 West 1916–1931 McMillan 1932–1941 Keeling 1942–1945 Rice, Jr. 1945–1964 Suttle 1964–1979 Shannon, Jr. 1980–1984 Prado 1984–2003 Rodriguez 2003–present

Seat 2 Seat established on February 26, 1917 by 39 Stat. 938 W.R. Smith, Sr. 1917–1924 Boynton 1924–1947 Thomason 1947–1963 Thornberry 1963–1965 Roberts 1966–1980 Nowlin 1981–2003 Yeakel III 2003–present

Seat 3 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Spears 1962–1979 Hudspeth 1979–2001 Moses 2002–present

Seat 4 Seat established on March 18, 1966 by 80 Stat. 75 Guinn 1966–1974 Sessions 1974–1987 Garza 1988–1991 O. Garcia 1994–present

Seat 5 Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294 Wood, Jr. 1970–1979 Bunton III 1979–1992 Briones 1994–2009 Guaderrama 2012–present

Seat 6 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 H. Garcia 1980–2002 Junell 2003–2015 vacant 2015–present

Seat 7 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 W.S. Smith, Jr. 1984–2016 vacant 2016–present

Seat 8 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Sparks 1991–present

Seat 9 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Biery, Jr. 1994–present

Seat 10 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Furgeson, Jr. 1994–2008 Pitman 2014–present

Seat 11 Seat established on December 21, 2000 by 114 Stat. 2762 Martinez 2002–present

Seat 12 Seat established on November 2, 2002 by 116 Stat. 1758 Cardone 2003–present

Seat 13 Seat established on November 2, 2002 by 116 Stat. 1758 Montalvo 2003–present

See also

• Courts of Texas
• List of United States federal courthouses in Texas

Notes

1. U.S. Department of Justice: 2002 Centennial Report, pgs. 1, 10
2. Southern District of Texas: History of the District
3. Johnson, Chris (17 December 2014). "Gay attorney confirmed to federal judiciary in Texas". Washington Blade. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
4. Kreytak, Steven (December 1, 2003). "Behind the bench, a man to be counted on: New judge won praise for fairness, kindness in 13 years as U.S. prosecutor". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved September 29, 2011.

External links

• US District Court for the Western District of Texas