United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (in case citations, W.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
(W.D. Ark.)
Location	Judge Isaac C. Parker Federal Building (Fort Smith) More locations El Dorado John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building (Fayetteville) J. Smith Henley Federal Building (Harrison) Federal Building–U.S. Post Office and Court House (Hot Springs) United States Post Office and Courthouse (Texarkana)
Appeals to	Eighth Circuit
Established	March 3, 1851
Judges	3
Chief Judge	Susan O. Hickey
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney
U.S. Marshal	vacant
www.arwd.uscourts.gov

The District was established on March 3, 1851, with the division of the preceding United States District Court for the District of Arkansas into an Eastern and Western district.

The U.S. Courthouse & Post Office in Texarkana is shared with the Eastern District of Texas, making it the sole federal courthouse located in two states and a location of two federal districts.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of November 17, 2021^[update], the current United States attorney is .

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas is one of two federal judicial districts in Arkansas. Court for the District is held at El Dorado, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Harrison, Hot Springs, and Texarkana.

El Dorado Division comprises the following counties: Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Columbia, Ouachita, and Union.

Fayetteville Division comprises the following counties: Benton, Madison, and Washington.

Fort Smith Division comprises the following counties: Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Polk, Scott, and Sebastian.

Harrison Division comprises the following counties: Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton, and Searcy.

Hot Springs Division comprises the following counties: Clark, Garland, Hot Spring, Montgomery, and Pike.

Texarkana Division comprises the following counties: Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, and Sevier.

Current judges

As of November 10, 2021^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
24	Chief Judge	Susan O. Hickey	El Dorado	1955	2011–present	2019–present	—	Obama
25	District Judge	Timothy L. Brooks	Fayetteville	1964	2014–present	—	—	Obama
26	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Senior Judge	Jimm Larry Hendren	inactive	1940	1992–2012	1997–2012	2012–present	G.H.W. Bush
22	Senior Judge	Robert T. Dawson	inactive	1938	1998–2009	—	2009–present	Clinton
23	Senior Judge	Paul K. Holmes III	Fort Smith	1951	2011–2021	2012–2019	2021–present	Obama

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
2	Fort Smith	Paul K. Holmes III	Senior status	November 10, 2021	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Daniel Ringo	AR	1803–1873	1851–1861	—	—	Taylor/Operation of law	resignation
2	Henry Clay Caldwell	AR	1832–1915	1864–1871	—	—	Lincoln	seat abolished
3	William Story	AR	1843–1921	1871–1874	—	—	Grant	resignation
4	Isaac C. Parker	AR	1838–1896	1875–1896	—	—	Grant	death
5	John Henry Rogers	AR	1845–1911	1896–1911	—	—	Cleveland	death
6	Frank A. Youmans	AR	1860–1932	1911–1932	—	—	Taft	death
7	Heartsill Ragon	AR	1885–1940	1933–1940	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
8	Harry Jacob Lemley	AR	1883–1965	1939–1958	1948–1958	1958–1965	F. Roosevelt	death
9	John E. Miller	AR	1888–1981	1941–1967	1958–1967	1967–1981	F. Roosevelt	death
10	J. Smith Henley	AR	1917–1997	1959–1975	—	—	Eisenhower	elevation to 8th Cir.
11	Oren Harris	AR	1903–1997	1965–1976	1967–1973	1976–1997	L. Johnson	death
12	Paul X. Williams	AR	1908–1994	1967–1981	1973–1981	1981–1994	L. Johnson	death
13	Terry Shell	AR	1922–1978	1975–1978	—	—	Ford	death
14	Elsijane Trimble Roy	AR	1916–2007	1977–1989	—	1989–1990	Carter	seat abolished
15	Richard S. Arnold	AR	1936–2004	1978–1980	—	—	Carter	elevation to 8th Cir.
16	George Howard Jr.	AR	1924–2007	1980–1990	—	—	Carter	seat abolished
17	Hugh Franklin Waters	AR	1932–2002	1981–1997	1981–1997	1997–2002	Reagan	death
18	Morris S. Arnold	AR	1941–present	1985–1992	—	—	Reagan	elevation to 8th Cir.
19	Susan Webber Wright	AR	1948–present	1990–1990	—	—	G.H.W. Bush	seat abolished
21	Harry F. Barnes	AR	1932–2019	1993–2008	—	2008–2019	Clinton	death

1. Reassigned from the District of Arkansas.
2. Jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas
3. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 8, 1896, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 1896, and received commission the same day
4. From 1989 to 1990, Judge Roy served as a Senior Judge of the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
5. From 1980 to 1990, Judge Howard was jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
6. From 1990 to 1990, Judge Wright was jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.

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

Seat 1 Seat reassigned from District of Arkansas on March 3, 1851 by 9 Stat. 594 (concurrent with Eastern District) Ringo 1851–1861 Caldwell 1864–1871 Seat reassigned solely to the Eastern District on March 3, 1871 by 16 Stat. 471

Seat 2 Seat established on March 3, 1871 by 16 Stat. 471 Story 1871–1874 Parker 1875–1896 Rogers 1896–1911 Youmans 1911–1932 Ragon 1933–1940 Miller 1941–1967 Williams 1967–1981 Waters 1981–1997 Dawson 1998–2009 Holmes III 2011–2021 vacant 2021–present

Seat 3 Seat established on May 31, 1938 by 52 Stat. 584 (concurrent with Eastern District) Lemley 1939–1958 Henley 1959–1975 Shell 1975–1978 R. Arnold 1978–1980 Howard Jr. 1980–1990 Seat reassigned solely to Eastern District on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089

Seat 4 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 (concurrent with Eastern District) Harris 1965–1976 Roy 1977–1989 Wright 1990 Seat reassigned solely to Eastern District on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089

Seat 5 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 (temporary) Seat made permanent on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 M. Arnold 1985–1992 Barnes 1993–2008 Hickey 2011–present

Seat 6 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Hendren 1992–2012 Brooks 2014–present

U.S. Attorney

• Jesse Turner 1851-53
• Alfred M. Wilson 1853-61
• Granville Wilcox 1861-69
• James H. Huckleberry 1869-72
• Newton J. Temple 1872-75
• W. H. H. Clayton 1875-85
• Monti H. Sandels 1885-89
• W. H. H. Clayton 1889-93
• James F. Read 1893-97
• Thomas H. Barnes 1897-98
• James K. Barnes 1898-1909
• Lafayette W. Gregg 1909
• John I. Worthington 1909-13 J.
• Virgil Bourland 1913-17
• Emon O. Mahoney 1917-20
• James Seaborn Holt 1920
• Steve Carrigan 1920
• Samuel S. Langley 1921-30
• William N. Ivie 1930-34
• Clinton R. Barry 1934-46
• Respess S. Wilson 1946-53
• Charles W. Atkinson 1953-61
• Charles M. Conway 1961-69
• Robert E. Johnson 1969
• Bethel B. Larey 1969-73
• Robert E. Johnson 1973-77
• Larry R. McCord 1977-82
• W. Asa Hutchinson 1982-85
• J. Michael Fitzhugh 1985-93
• Paul K. Holmes 1993-2001
• Bill Cromwell (Acting) 2001
• Thomas C Gean 2001-2003
• Bill Cromwell 2003-2004
• Robert C. Balfe 2004-2008
• Deborah or Debbie Groom (Acting) 2008 - 2010
• Conner Eldridge 2010-2015
• Duane Kees 2018-2020
• David Clay Fowlkes 2020-present

See also

• Courts of Arkansas
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Arkansas

References

1. http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/courts_district_ar.html U.S. District Courts of Arkansas, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
2. "28 U.S.C. § 83 - U.S. Code Title 28. Judiciary and Judicial Procedure § 83". Findlaw.
3. "The Political Graveyard: U.S. District Attorneys in Arkansas". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
4. "Western District of Arkansas | About the Office". www.justice.gov. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
5. "PN1686 — Robert Cramer Balfe III — Department of Justice". Congress.gov. Retrieved April 4, 2024.

External links

• United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
• United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas