United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma

United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (W.D. Okla.)
Appeals to	Tenth Circuit
Established	June 16, 1906
Judges assigned	7
Chief judge	Joe L. Heaton
Official site

The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (in case citations, W.D. Okla. or W.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).

The District was established on June 16, 1906 and became operational on November 16, 1907 with Oklahoma achieving statehood. ^[1]

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma is one of three federal judicial districts in Oklahoma.^[2] Court for the District is held at Lawton and Oklahoma City.

Enid and Ponca City Division comprises the following counties: Alfalfa, Garfield, Grant, Kay, Noble, and Payne.

Lawton and Mangum Division comprises the following counties: Beckham, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Jefferson, Kiowa, Stephens, Tillman, and Washita.

Oklahoma City, Guthrie, Chickasha, Pauls Valley, and Shawnee Division comprises the following counties: Blaine, Canadian, Cleveland, Garvin, Grady, Kingfisher, Lincoln, Logan, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie.

Woodward Division comprises the following counties: Beaver, Cimarron, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Harper, Major, Roger Mills, Texas, Woods, and Woodward.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current US Attorney is Sanford Coats.

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
23	Chief Judge	Joe L. Heaton	Oklahoma City	1951	2001–present	2015–present	—	G.W.Bush
20	District Judge	Vicki Miles-LaGrange	Oklahoma City	1953	1994–present	2008–2015	—	Clinton
22	District Judge	James H. Payne	none[Note 1]	1941	2001–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
24	District Judge	Timothy D. DeGiusti	Oklahoma City	1962	2007–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
25	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
26	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
27	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
13	Senior Judge	Lee Roy West	Oklahoma City	1929	1979–1994	1993–1994	1994–present	Carter
14	Senior Judge	David Lynn Russell	Oklahoma City	1942	1981–2013	1994–2001	2013–present	Reagan
15	Senior Judge	Wayne Edward Alley	inactive	1932	1985–1999	—	1999–present	Reagan
17	Senior Judge	Robin J. Cauthron	Oklahoma City	1950	1991–2015	2001–2008	2015–present	G.H.W. Bush
18	Senior Judge	Timothy D. Leonard	Oklahoma City	1940	1992–2006	—	2006–present	G.H.W. Bush
22	Senior Judge	Stephen P. Friot	Oklahoma City	1947	2001–2014	—	2014–present	G.W. Bush

1. Judge Payne maintains chambers only in the Eastern and Northern Districts.

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
4	David Lynn Russell	Senior Status	July 7, 2013	Suzanne Mitchell	December 16, 2015
7	Stephen P. Friot	Senior Status	December 1, 2014	Scott L. Palk	December 16, 2015
8	Robin J. Cauthron	Senior Status	July 14, 2015	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Age at appointment	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Cotteral, John HazeltonJohn Hazelton Cotteral	OK	1864–1933	1907[3]–1928	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Roosevelt, T.T. Roosevelt	reappointment
2	Vaught, Edgar SullinsEdgar Sullins Vaught	OK	1873–1959	1928[4]–1956	1949–1956	{{{age at appointment}}}	1956–1959	Coolidge, Coolidge	death
3	Murrah, Alfred P.Alfred P. Murrah	OK	1904–1975	1937–1940	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	reappointment
4	Broaddus, Bower SlackBower Slack Broaddus	OK	1888–1949	1940–1949	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
5	Chandler Jr., Stephen SandersStephen Sanders Chandler Jr.	OK	1899–1989	1943–1975	1956–1969	{{{age at appointment}}}	1975–1989	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
6	Wallace, William RobertWilliam Robert Wallace	OK	1886–1960	1950–1960	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Truman, Truman	death
7	Rizley, RossRoss Rizley	OK	1892–1969	1956–1969	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	death
8	Bohanon, Luther L.Luther L. Bohanon	OK	1902–2003	1961–1974	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	1974–2003	Kennedy, Kennedy	death
9	Daugherty, Frederick AlvinFrederick Alvin Daugherty	OK	1914–2006	1961[5]–1982	1972–1982	{{{age at appointment}}}	1982–2006	Kennedy, Kennedy	death
10	Eubanks, Luther BoydLuther Boyd Eubanks	OK	1917–1996	1965–1986	1982–1986	{{{age at appointment}}}	1986–1987	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	retirement
11	Cook, H. DaleH. Dale Cook	OK	1924–2008	1974–1992	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	1992–2008	Ford, Ford	death
12	Thompson, Ralph GordonRalph Gordon Thompson	OK	1934–present	1975–1999	1986–1993	{{{age at appointment}}}	1999–2007	Ford, Ford	resignation
16	Phillips, Layn R.Layn R. Phillips	OK	1952–present	1987–1991	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Reagan, Reagan	resignation
19	Burrage, MichaelMichael Burrage	OK	1950–present	1994–2001	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Clinton, Clinton	resignation

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat established on November 16, 1907 by 34 Stat. 267 Cotteral 1907–1928 Vaught 1929–1956 Rizley 1956–1969 Seat abolished on March 4, 1969 (temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 2 Seat established on June 22, 1936 by 49 Stat. 1804 (concurrent with Eastern and Northern Districts) Murrah 1937–1940 Broaddus 1940–1949 Wallace 1950–1960 Bohanon 1961–1974 Cook 1974–1992 Burrage 1994–2001 Payne 2001–present

Seat 3 Seat established on May 24, 1940 by 54 Stat. 219 (temporary) Seat made permanent on August 3, 1949 by 63 Stat. 493 Chandler 1943–1975 Thompson 1975–1999 Heaton 2001–present

Seat 4 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 (concurrent with Eastern and Northern Districts) Daugherty 1961–1982 Seat reassigned solely to Western District on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Russell 1981–2013 vacant 2013–present

Seat 5 Seat established in 1965 pursuant to 71 Stat. 586 (temporary) Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 1 on March 4, 1969 Eubanks 1965–1986 Phillips 1987–1991 Leonard 1992–2006 DeGiusti 2007–present

Seat 6 Seat established in October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 West 1979–1994 Miles-LaGrange 1994–present

Seat 7 Seat established in July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 Alley 1985–1999 Friot 2001–2014 vacant 2014–present

Seat 8 Seat established in December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Cauthron 1991–2015 vacant 2015–present

See also

• Courts of Oklahoma
• List of United States federal courthouses in Oklahoma

Notes

1. http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/courts_district_ok.html U.S. District Courts of Oklahoma, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
3. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 3, 1907, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 13, 1908, and received commission on January 13, 1908.
4. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 6, 1928, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 8, 1929, and received commission on January 8, 1929.
5. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the United States Senate on February 7, 1962, and received commission on February 17, 1962.

External links

• United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma Official Website
• United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma Official Website