United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma (in case citations, E.D. Okla. or E.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the Tenth 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 Eastern District of Oklahoma
(E.D. Okla.)
Location	Ed Edmondson U.S. Courthouse (Muskogee) More locations Ada Ardmore Durant Hugo Okmulgee Poteau McAlester
Appeals to	Tenth Circuit
Established	June 16, 1906
Judges	2
Chief Judge	Ronald A. White
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Christopher Wilson (interim)
U.S. Marshal	Kerry L. Pettingill
www.oked.uscourts.gov

The District was established on June 16, 1906, and became operational on November 16, 1907, with Oklahoma achieving statehood.

The court's jurisdiction comprises the following counties: Adair, Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coal, Haskell, Hughes, Johnston, Latimer, LeFlore, Love, Marshall, McCurtain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pushmataha, Seminole, Sequoyah, and Wagoner.

The court is housed in the Ed Edmondson U.S. Courthouse in Muskogee.

The United States Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Oklahoma represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of December 26, 2021^[update] the interim United States attorney for the district is Christopher Wilson.

History

Judge Frank Howell Seay, appointed to the court by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, was the first Native American (Seminole) appointed to any U.S. district court.

Current judges

As of May 27, 2020^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
17	Chief Judge	Ronald A. White	Muskogee	1961	2003–present	2017–present	—	G.W. Bush
18	District Judge	John F. Heil III	Muskogee	1968	2020–present	—	—	Trump
13	Senior Judge	Frank Howell Seay	inactive	1938	1979–2003	1980–1996	2003–present	Carter
16	Senior Judge	James H. Payne	inactive	1941	2001–2017	2002–2017	2017–present	G.W. Bush

1. Jointly appointed to the Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma.

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
1	Muskogee	Ronald A. White	Senior status	January 27, 2026	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Ralph E. Campbell	OK	1867–1921	1907–1918	—	—	T. Roosevelt	resignation
2	Robert L. Williams	OK	1868–1948	1919–1937	—	—	Wilson	elevation to 10th Cir.
3	Franklin Elmore Kennamer	OK	1879–1960	1924–1925	—	—	Coolidge	reassignment to N.D. Okla.
4	Alfred P. Murrah	OK	1904–1975	1937–1940	—	—	F. Roosevelt	elevation to 10th Cir.
5	Eugene Rice	OK	1891–1967	1937–1963	1949–1963	1963–1967	F. Roosevelt	death
6	Bower Slack Broaddus	OK	1888–1949	1940–1949	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
7	William Robert Wallace	OK	1886–1960	1950–1960	—	—	Truman	death
8	Luther L. Bohanon	OK	1902–2003	1961–1974	—	1974–2003	Kennedy	death
9	Frederick Alvin Daugherty	OK	1914–2006	1961–1982	1973–1975	1982–2006	Kennedy	death
10	Orville Edwin Langley	OK	1908–1973	1965–1973	1965–1973	—	L. Johnson	death
11	Joseph Wilson Morris	OK	1922–2021	1974–1978	1975–1978	—	Nixon	resignation
12	H. Dale Cook	OK	1924–2008	1974–1992	—	1992–2008	Ford	death
14	David Lynn Russell	OK	1942–present	1981–1990	—	—	Reagan	seat abolished
15	Michael Burrage	OK	1950–present	1994–2001	1996–2001	—	Clinton	resignation

1. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 8, 1907, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 13, 1908, and received commission the same day.
2. Jointly appointed to the Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma.
3. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the Senate on February 7, 1962, and received commission on February 17, 1962.

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 established on November 16, 1907 by 34 Stat. 267 Campbell 1908–1918 Williams 1919–1937 Rice 1937–1963 Langley 1965–1973 Morris 1974–1978 Seay 1979–2003 White 2003–present

Seat 2 Seat established on September 14, 1922 by 42 Stat. 837 (temporary) Kennamer 1924–1925 Seat reassigned to Northern District and made permanent on February 16, 1925 by 43 Stat. 945

Seat 3 Seat established on June 22, 1936 by 49 Stat. 1804 (concurrent with Northern and Western Districts) Murrah 1937–1940 Broaddus 1940–1949 Wallace 1950–1960 Bohanon 1961–1974 Cook 1974–1992 Burrage 1994–2001 Payne 2001–2017 Heil III 2020–present

Seat 4 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 (concurrent with Northern and Western Districts) Daugherty 1962–1982 Russell 1981–1990 Seat reassigned solely to Western District on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089

See also

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

References

1. U.S. District Courts of Oklahoma, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
2. "Meet the U.S. Attorney". January 3, 2022. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022.
3. "Future Judicial Vacancies | United States Courts". www.uscourts.gov.

External links

• Official website

35°45′01″N 95°22′28″W / 35.75020°N 95.37439°W / 35.75020; -95.37439