Peter David Welte (born December 21, 1965) is the chief United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of North Dakota The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota (in case citations, D.N.D.) is the United States District Court or the Federal district court, whose jurisdiction is the state of North Dakota. The court is headquartered out of ...

Early life and education

Welte was born on December 21, 1965, in

New Britain, Connecticut New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol ...

. He received his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, with distinction, from the

University of North Dakota School of Law The University of North Dakota School of Law is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota, at the University of North Dakota (UND). It is the only law school in North Dakota. It was established in 1899. The law school is home to approximately 240 stud ...

."President Donald J. Trump Announces Nineteenth Wave of Judicial Nominees" White House, January 16, 2019

Legal career

From 1999 to 2003 he served in the State's Attorney's office of Grand Forks County as a line prosecutor. He was later elected State's Attorney for the same office in 2003 and served in that capacity until 2015. From 2015 to 2019 he was a shareholder in the Vogel Law Firm, where his practice focused on criminal defense and agriculture law.

Federal judicial service

On January 16, 2019, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

announced his intent to nominate Welte to serve as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

for the

. On January 17, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Welte to the seat vacated by Judge Ralph R. Erickson, who was elevated to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western ...

on October 12, 2017. On February 13, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. On March 7, 2019, Welte's nomination was reported out of committee by a 16–6 vote. On July 29, 2019, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

invoked

cloture Cloture (, ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. is ...

on his nomination by a 66–21 vote. On July 30, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 68–22 vote. He received his judicial commission on August 5, 2019. He has served as chief judge since November 11, 2019.

References

External links

* 1965 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota North Dakota lawyers People from New Britain, Connecticut State attorneys United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump University of North Dakota alumni {{US-federal-judge-stub