United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa
Encyclopedia
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (in case citation
s, S.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over forty-seven of Iowa
's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
(except for patent
claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act
, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit
).
The United States District Court for the District of Iowa, established on March 3, 1845, by 5 Stat. 789, was subdivided into the current Northern
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. 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
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
.
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
) was assigned entirely to the Northern District, and a third Southern District judgeship (first held by Judge Ronald Earl Longstaff
) was authorized.
James E. Gritzner
, John Alfred Jarvey
and Robert W. Pratt
currently serve on the bench as full, Article III judges while Ronald Earl Longstaff, William Corwin Stuart
, Harold Duane Vietor and Charles Wolle have the status of senior judges.
It is headquartered in Des Moines
, with satellite facilities in Council Bluffs
and Davenport
. The Davenport courts are located in the United States Post Office and Court House (Davenport, Iowa)
. Nicholas A. Klinefeldt is the current United States Attorney
.
}||||Incumbent||–
|-
| Charles Robert Wolle
||Ronald Reagan
||||||Incumbent||–
|-
| Ronald Earl Longstaff
||George H. W. Bush
||||||Incumbent||–
|-
|}
}||||–||death
|-
| Martin Joseph Wade
||Woodrow Wilson
||||||–||death
|-
| Charles Almon Dewey
||Calvin Coolidge
||||||||death
|-
| William F. Riley
||Harry S. Truman
||||||–||death
|-
| Carroll O. Switzer
||Harry S. Truman
||||||–||not confirmed
|-
| Edwin Richley Hicklin
||Dwight D. Eisenhower
||||||||death
|-
| Roy Laverne Stephenson
||Dwight D. Eisenhower
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| William Cook Hanson
||John F. Kennedy
||||||||death
|-
| Donald Eugene O'Brien
||Jimmy Carter
||||||–||assignment to another court
|-
|}
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
s, S.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over forty-seven of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...
(except for patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act
Tucker Act
Through the Tucker Act , the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits....
, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
-Vacancies and pending nominations:-List of former judges:-Chief judges:Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the court was initially created, Congress had to resolve which chief judge of the predecessor courts would become the first chief judge...
).
The United States District Court for the District of Iowa, established on March 3, 1845, by 5 Stat. 789, was subdivided into the current Northern
United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa has jurisdiction over fifty-two of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (in case citations, N.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction...
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. In October 1927, Judge Martin Joseph Wade
Martin Joseph Wade
300px|thumb|Martin Wade, Bain News Service, undatedMartin Joseph Wade was a one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district, and a U.S...
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
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
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
Harold Duane Vietor is a senior federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.Born in Parkersburg, Iowa, Vietor was in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1954. He received a B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1955, and a J.D. from the its College of Law in...
.
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
Donald Eugene O'Brien is a United States district judge, in service since 1978, now on senior status. He was an officer in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, a Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives, a United States Attorney, and a valued political...
) was assigned entirely to the Northern District, and a third Southern District judgeship (first held by Judge Ronald Earl Longstaff
Ronald Earl Longstaff
Ronald Earl Longstaff is a United States federal judge.Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, Longstaff received a B.A. from Kansas State College in 1962 and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1965. He was a law clerk for Judge Roy L. Stephenson of the United States District Court for the...
) was authorized.
James E. Gritzner
James E. Gritzner
James E. Gritzner is an active United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.Gritzner was born in Charles City, Iowa. He received a B.A. from Dakota Wesleyan University in 1969, and a M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa in 1974. He received...
, John Alfred Jarvey
John Alfred Jarvey
John Alfred Jarvey is a United States federal judge.Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jarvey received a B.S. from the University of Akron in 1978 and a J.D. from Drake University Law School in 1981. He was a law clerk to the Hon. Donald E. O'Brien, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...
and Robert W. Pratt
Robert W. Pratt
Robert W. Pratt is a United States federal judge.Born in Emmetsburg, Iowa, Pratt received an A.A. from Iowa Lakes Community College in 1967, a B.A. from Loras College in 1969, and a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in 1972. He was a Staff attorney of Polk County Legal Aid Society from...
currently serve on the bench as full, Article III judges while Ronald Earl Longstaff, William Corwin Stuart
William Corwin Stuart
William Corwin Stuart is a United States federal judge, and a former justice of the Iowa Supreme Court.Born in Knoxville, Iowa, Stuart received a B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1941, and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1942. He was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Air...
, Harold Duane Vietor and Charles Wolle have the status of senior judges.
It is headquartered in Des Moines
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, with satellite facilities in Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Council Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
and Davenport
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
. The Davenport courts are located in the United States Post Office and Court House (Davenport, Iowa)
United States Post Office and Court House (Davenport, Iowa)
The United States Courthouse, Davenport, Iowa is a historic post office and courthouse building located in Davenport in Scott County, Iowa. It is a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.-Predecessor building:...
. Nicholas A. Klinefeldt is the current United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
.
Current Judges
| Judge | Appointed by | Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
End reason |
| Robert W. Pratt Robert W. Pratt Robert W. Pratt is a United States federal judge.Born in Emmetsburg, Iowa, Pratt received an A.A. from Iowa Lakes Community College in 1967, a B.A. from Loras College in 1969, and a J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in 1972. He was a Staff attorney of Polk County Legal Aid Society from... |
Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation... |
Incumbent | – | – | |
| James E. Gritzner James E. Gritzner James E. Gritzner is an active United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.Gritzner was born in Charles City, Iowa. He received a B.A. from Dakota Wesleyan University in 1969, and a M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa in 1974. He received... |
George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... |
Incumbent | – | – | |
| John Alfred Jarvey John Alfred Jarvey John Alfred Jarvey is a United States federal judge.Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jarvey received a B.S. from the University of Akron in 1978 and a J.D. from Drake University Law School in 1981. He was a law clerk to the Hon. Donald E. O'Brien, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of... |
George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... |
Incumbent | – | – | |
| William Corwin Stuart William Corwin Stuart William Corwin Stuart is a United States federal judge, and a former justice of the Iowa Supreme Court.Born in Knoxville, Iowa, Stuart received a B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1941, and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1942. He was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Air... |
Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... |
Incumbent | – | ||
| Harold Duane Vietor Harold Duane Vietor Harold Duane Vietor is a senior federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.Born in Parkersburg, Iowa, Vietor was in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1954. He received a B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1955, and a J.D. from the its College of Law in... |
Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office... |
|-
| Charles Robert Wolle
Charles Robert Wolle
Charles Robert Wolle is a former justice of the Iowa Supreme Court who currently serves as a senior federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa....
||Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
||||||Incumbent||–
|-
| Ronald Earl Longstaff
Ronald Earl Longstaff
Ronald Earl Longstaff is a United States federal judge.Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, Longstaff received a B.A. from Kansas State College in 1962 and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1965. He was a law clerk for Judge Roy L. Stephenson of the United States District Court for the...
||George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
||||||Incumbent||–
|-
|}
Former Judges
| Judge | Appointed by | Began active service |
Ended active service |
Ended senior status |
End reason |
| James M. Love James M. Love James M. Love was a longtime United States federal judge in Iowa, presiding in district courts for over thirty-five years during the Nineteenth Century.... |
Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army... |
– | death | ||
| John Simson Woolson John Simson Woolson John Simson Woolson was a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in the late Nineteenth Century.... |
Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there... |
– | death | ||
| Smith McPherson Smith McPherson Smith McPherson was a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's now-obsolete 9th congressional district for one year, and a federal district court judge for over fourteen years.... |
William McKinley William McKinley William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s... |
|-
| Martin Joseph Wade
Martin Joseph Wade
300px|thumb|Martin Wade, Bain News Service, undatedMartin Joseph Wade was a one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 2nd congressional district, and a U.S...
||Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
||||||–||death
|-
| Charles Almon Dewey
Charles Almon Dewey
Charles Almon Dewey was a United States federal judge in Iowa's southern district for over thirty years....
||Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
||||||||death
|-
| William F. Riley
William F. Riley
William F. Riley was a United States federal judge for Iowa's southern district during the 1950s....
||Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
||||||–||death
|-
| Carroll O. Switzer
Carroll O. Switzer
Carroll O. Switzer was an unsuccessful candidate for Iowa's governorship who later served as a state court judge and as a United States federal judge....
||Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
||||||–||not confirmed
|-
| Edwin Richley Hicklin
Edwin Richley Hicklin
Edwin Richley Hicklin was a United States federal judge in Iowa in the late 1950s and early 1960s.Born in Wapello, Iowa, Hicklin received an A.B. from Drake University in 1915 and an LL.B. from the University of Iowa in 1917. He was in private practice in southeastern Iowa from 1918 to 1957...
||Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
||||||||death
|-
| Roy Laverne Stephenson
Roy Laverne Stephenson
Roy Laverne Stephenson was a United States Attorney, and United States federal judge at the district court and appellate court levels....
||Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
||||||–||reappointment
|-
| William Cook Hanson
William Cook Hanson
William Cook Hanson was a United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa....
||John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
||||||||death
|-
| Donald Eugene O'Brien
Donald Eugene O'Brien
Donald Eugene O'Brien is a United States district judge, in service since 1978, now on senior status. He was an officer in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, a Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives, a United States Attorney, and a valued political...
||Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
||||||–||assignment to another court
|-
|}