The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case c ...

s, W.D. Tenn.) is the federal district court covering the western part of the state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

. Appeals from the Western District of Tennessee are taken to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of ...

(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 The Tucker Act (March 3, 1887, ch. 359, , ) is a federal statute of the United States by which the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits. The Tucker Act may be divided into the "Big" Tucker A ...

, 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 ...

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the Western District of Tennessee comprises the following counties: Benton, Carroll,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters * Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator * ...

, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette,

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood,

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People * Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

, Henry,

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Lauderdale Lauderdale is the valley of the Leader Water (a tributary of the Tweed) in the Scottish Borders. It contains the town of Lauder, as well as Earlston. The valley is traversed from end to end by the A68 trunk road, which runs from Darlington to ...

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 ...

, McNairy, Obion, Perry, Shelby,

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

, and Weakley. The court's jurisdiction includes the entirety of

West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its ...

, plus Perry County in

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

. This area includes the cities of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

and Memphis. The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States Attorney is Kevin G. Ritz.

History

The United States District Court for the District of Tennessee was established with one judgeship on January 31, 1797, by .Asbury Dickens, ''A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America'' (1852), p. 391.U.S. District Courts of Tennessee, 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 ...

''. The judgeship was filled by President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

's appointment of John McNairy. Since Congress failed to assign the district to a circuit, the court had the jurisdiction of both a district court and a circuit court. Appeals from this one district court went directly to the United States Supreme Court. On February 13, 1801, in the famous " Midnight Judges" Act of 1801, , Congress abolished the U.S. district court in Tennessee, and expanded the number of circuits to six, provided for independent circuit court judgeships, and abolished the necessity of Supreme Court Justices riding the circuits. It was this legislation which created the grandfather of the present Sixth Circuit. The act provided for a "Sixth Circuit" comprising two districts in the State of Tennessee, one district in the State of Kentucky and one district, called the Ohio District, composed of the Ohio and Indiana territories (the latter including the present State of Michigan). The new Sixth Circuit Court was to be held at "Bairdstown" in the District of Kentucky, at Knoxville in the District of East Tennessee, at Nashville in the District of West Tennessee, and at Cincinnati in the District of Ohio. Unlike the other circuits which were provided with three circuit judges, the Sixth Circuit was to have only one circuit judge with district judges from Kentucky and Tennessee comprising the rest of the court. Any two judges constituted a quorum. New circuit judgeships were to be created as district judgeships in Kentucky and Tennessee became vacant. The repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, . The District was divided into the Eastern and Western Districts on April 29, 1802. On February 24, 1807, Congress again abolished the two districts and created the United States Circuit for the District of Tennessee. On March 3, 1837, Congress assigned the judicial district of Tennessee to the Eighth Circuit. On June 18, 1839, by , Congress divided Tennessee into three districts, Eastern, Middle, and Western.

Alfred Conkling Alfred Conkling (October 12, 1789 – February 5, 1874) was a United States representative from New York, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York and United States Minister to Mex ...

, ''A Treatise on the Organization, Jurisdiction and Practice of the Courts of the United States'' (1842), p. 42. Again, only one judgeship was allotted for all three districts. On July 15, 1862, Congress reassigned appellate jurisdiction to the Sixth Circuit. Finally, on June 14, 1878, Congress authorized a separate judgeship for the Western District of Tennessee. President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...

then appointed Eli Shelby Hammond as the first judge for only the Western District of Tennessee. There are now five permanent judgeships and four magistrate judgeships for the Western District of Tennessee.

Current judges

Vacancies and pending nominations

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

Courthouses

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee is based out of two courthouses, the Clifford Davis Federal Building on 167 North Main Street in downtown Memphis and the Ed Jones Federal Building in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States census. Jackson ...

List of U.S. Attorneys

* Thomas Stuart 1803–1810 * John E. Beck 1810–1818 * Henry Crabb 1818–1827 * Thomas H. Fletcher 1827–1829 *

James Collinsworth James Thompson Collinsworth (1802 – July 11, 1838) was an American-born Texian lawyer and political figure in early history of the Republic of Texas. Early life Collinsworth was born in 1802 Davidson County, Tennessee. His father, Edward Collin ...

1829–1835 *

William T. Brown William is a male given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norm ...

1835–1836 * James P. Grundy 1836–1838 * Joseph H. Talbot 1838-1838 * Henry W. McCorry 1838–1850 * Charles N. Gibbs 1850–1853 *

Richard J. Hays Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

1853–1856 * Alexander W. McCampbell 1856–1861 * John M. McCarmack 1861–1877 * W.W. Murray 1877–1882 * William F. Poston 1882–1885 * Henry W. McCorry 1885–1889 * Samuel W. Hawkins 1889–1894 * Julius A. Taylor 1894–1895 * Charles B. Simonton 1895–1898 * George Randolph 1898–1910 *

Casey Todd Casey may refer to: Places Antarctica *Casey Station * Casey Range Australia * Casey, Australian Capital Territory * City of Casey, Melbourne * Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives Canada * Casey, Ontario * C ...

1910–1914 * Hubert F. Fisher 1914–1917 * William D. Kyser 1917–1921 *

S.E. Murray SE, Se, or Sé may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Sé (album), ''Sé'' (album), by Lúnasa, 2006 * Se (instrument), a traditional Chinese musical instrument Businesses and organizations * Sea Ltd (NYSE: SE), tech conglomerate headquartered i ...

1921–1926 * Tilmon A. Lancaster 1926–1926 * Nugent Dodds 1926–1926 * Lindsay B. Phillips 1926–1931 * Nelson H. Carver 1931–1932 *

Dwayne D. Maddox Dwayne or Dewayne is a traditionally male name. It is Goidelic languages, Gaelic in origin, deriving from the Irish saint Dubhán. History St. Dubhán was an Irish monk who established an abbey in Hook Head, Ireland during the 5th century. As a s ...

1932–1933 * William McClanahan 1933–1948 * John Brown 1948–1953 * Milsaps Fitzhugh 1953–1960 * Warner Hodges 1960–1961 *

Thomas L. Robinson Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

1961–1969 * Thomas F. Turley, Jr. 1969–1977 * W.J. Michael Cody 1977–1981 *

Hickman Ewing W. Hickman Ewing, Jr. is an American attorney. Ewing served as the United States Attorney for the western district of Tennessee from 1981 to 1991. He later served as the special prosecutor overseeing the Whitewater investigation. Early life Ew ...

1981–1991 * Ed Bryant 1991–1993 *

Daniel A. Clancy Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

1993 * Veronica F. Coleman 1993–2001 * Lawrence J. Laurenzi 2001-2001 * Terrell L. Harris 2001–2005 * Lawrence J. Laurenzi 2005–2006 * David Kustoff 2006–2008 * Lawrence J. Laurenzi 2008–2010 * Edward L. Stanton III 2010–2017 * Lawrence J. Laurenzi 2017 * D. Michael Dunavant 2017–2021

References

External links

United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee official website

United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Tennessee, Western District Tennessee law Jackson, Tennessee Memphis, Tennessee Courthouses in Tennessee 1801 establishments in the United States 1802 disestablishments in the United States 1802 establishments in the United States 1807 disestablishments in the United States 1839 establishments in the United States Courts and tribunals established in 1801 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1802 Courts and tribunals established in 1802 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1807 Courts and tribunals established in 1839