The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (in case citations, S.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over forty-seven of

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (except for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

). The United States District Court for the District of Iowa, established on March 3, 1845, by 5 Stat. 789,Asbury Dickens, ''A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America'' (1852), p. 394.U.S. District Courts of Iowa, Legislative history
''

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of respo ...

''. was subdivided into the current

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

and Southern Districts on July 20, 1882, by 22 Stat. 172. Initially, one judge was assigned to each District. By 1927, a backlog of unresolved cases dating back to 1920 had developed."Judge Wade Hits Delayed Legal Cases," Sioux City Journal, 1927-10-06, p. 1. In October 1927, Judge Martin Joseph Wade announced that he "was through" attempting to try cases requiring more than one day, but urged Congress to create a second judgeship for the Southern District of Iowa. On January 19, 1928, President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

signed into law a bill that authorized a second judgeship for the District, with the proviso that when the existing judgeship (held by Judge Wade) becomes vacant, it shall not be filled unless authorized by Congress. When the original judgeship became vacant upon Wade's death in 1931, Congress did not act to reauthorize it, leaving the Southern District with a single judgeship. A second judgeship in the Southern District was not reauthorized by Congress until 1979, with the creation of the judgeship first held by

Harold Duane Vietor Harold Duane Vietor (December 29, 1931 – July 23, 2016) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Education and career Born in Parkersburg, Iowa in 1931, Vietor was in the United ...

. In 1962, Congress created a new judgeship that would be shared by the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa. The shared judgeship was replaced in 1990 when the shared judgeship (then held by Judge

Donald Eugene O'Brien Donald Eugene O'Brien (September 30, 1923 – August 18, 2015) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He was ...

) was assigned entirely to the Northern District, and a third Southern District judgeship (first held by Judge

Ronald Earl Longstaff Ronald Earl Longstaff (born 1941) is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Education and career Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, Longstaff received a Bachelor of Arts d ...

) was authorized. In 2012, Judge Stephanie Marie Rose was the first woman appointed to the bench in the Southern District of Iowa. It is headquartered at the United States Courthouse in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...

, with satellite facilities in Council Bluffs and at the United States Court House in

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta ** District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

. , the Interim United States Attorney is Richard D. Westphal.

Jurisdiction

Iowa federal court districts and divisions

The Southern District of Iowa has three court divisions, each covering the following counties: The Central Division, covering Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Boone,

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

, Decatur, Greene, Guthrie,

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref ...

, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lucas,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Monroe,

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missour ...

, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Story, Taylor, Union, Wapello, Warren and Wayne counties. The Eastern Division, covering Clinton,

, Henry,

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

, Louisa, Muscatine,

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

, Van Buren, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

counties. The Western Division, covering Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties.

Current judges

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

References

External links

Southern District website

{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Iowa, Southern District Iowa law Des Moines, Iowa Council Bluffs, Iowa Davenport, Iowa 1845 establishments in the United States 1882 establishments in Iowa Courthouses in Iowa Courts and tribunals established in 1882