United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

• Court
• Judges

Southern District of Ohio Sixth Circuit Chief: Susan Dlott Judges: 8 Posts: 8 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Barrett • Black • Frost • Marbley • Rose • Sargus • Watson Senior Judges Beckwith • Graham • Rice • Smith • Spiegel • Weber Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Michael Merz Abel • Hogan • Kemp • King • Litkovitz • Ovington Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio is one of two United States district courts in Ohio and includes forty-eight of the state's eighty-eight counties.

The court is divided into two divisions. The Eastern Division, which sits in the Joseph P. Kinneary United States Courthouse at Columbus, serves the counties of Athens, Belmont, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Licking, Logan, Madison, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Union, Vinton, and Washington

The Western Division sits at both Cincinnati and Dayton. Cases from the counties of Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland, Lawrence, Scioto, and Warren are heard at Cincinnati in the Potter Stewart United States Courthouse. Cases from the counties of Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Shelby are heard at Dayton.

The court, as of 2006, has eight active judges (the maximum authorized by law), six senior judges and seven magistrates. The chief judge is Sandra Beckwith.

The United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Ohio represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of 2004, the United States Attorney is Gregory G. Lockhart.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based at the same building the Southern District of Ohio is located in Downtown Cincinnati at the Potter A. Stewart Federal Courthouse and Building.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has zero vacancies out of their eight posts. There are no pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Southern District of Ohio (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Southern District of Ohio consists of all the following counties in the southern part of the state of Ohio.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Athens, Belmont, Coshocton, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Licking, Logan, Madison, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Union, Vinton and Washington Counties.

The Western Division, covering Adams, Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Darke, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Lawrence, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, Scioto, Shelby and Warren Counties.

The main courthouse is located in Cleveland (where the chief judge and most of the Northern District's judges have chambers), along with other offices in Toledo, Akron, and Youngstown.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Downtown Cincinnati at the Potter A. Stewart Federal Courthouse and Building.

Cases heard

The Southern District of Ohio has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	3460	3392	6852	3415	3437	8.3	10.4	192(6.9%)	7.3	20
2009	3281	3393	6674	3219	3455	9.5	10.6	187(6.7%)	8.9	21
2008	3560	3330	6890	3626	3264	8.9	10.3	196(7.2%)	.0	22
2007	3422	3524	6946	3340	3606	8.7	10.6	197(6.5%)	.0	24
2006	3637	3066	6703	3296	3407	9.0	12.6	240(8.3%)	7.0	20

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The Northern District of Ohio has three separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m, excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Cincinnati Division	Office of the Clerk Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, Room 103 100 East Fifth Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202	513-564-7500
Columbus Division	Office of the Clerk Joseph P. Kinneary U.S. Courthouse, Room 121 85 Marconi Boulevard Columbus, Ohio 43215	614-719-3000
Dayton Division	Office of the Clerk Federal Building, Room 712 200 West Second Street Dayton, Ohio 45402	937-512-1400

History

Court history

On February 19, 1803 the state of Ohio was organized as a judicial district with one judgeship authorized for this U.S. district court. This district court was not yet assigned to a judicial circuit and was therefore granted the same jurisdiction as the United States circuit courts, excluding appeals and writs of error, which are the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

On February 24, 1807, Statute 2 Stat. 420 repealed the authority of the district court in Ohio to exercise the jurisdiction of the U.S. circuit courts. The district of Ohio was reassigned to the newly organized Seventh Circuit and provided for a United States circuit court for the District of Ohio.

The state of Ohio divided into two judicial districts on February 10, 1855. These judicial districts were known as the Northern District of Ohio and the Southern District of Ohio. One judgeship was assigned to each of these districts, with the district judge serving the District of Ohio being reassigned to serve the Southern District of Ohio.

Congress went on to reorganize the circuits on July 23, 1866 and assigned the state of Ohio to the Sixth Circuit. Over time 7 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 8 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Southern District of Ohio:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
February 10, 1855	10 Stat. 604	1
February 25, 1907	34 Stat. 928	2(1 temporary)
February 24, 1910	36 Stat. 202	2
August 25, 1937	50 Stat. 805	3
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	4
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	4
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	5
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	6
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 347	7
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	8

Notable cases

This page is missing notable case information.

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For a searchable list of opinions, please see Justia.com-Dockets and Filings-Southern District of Ohio.

Federal courthouse

Three separate courthouses serve the Southern District of Ohio.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Ohio judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

External links

• The court's official site
• U.S. Attorney's site, with map of district
• Sixth Circuit blog
• Opinions of the Southern District of Ohio
• Judges of the Southern District of Ohio

References

Southern District of Ohio Sixth Circuit Chief: Susan Dlott Judges: 8 Posts: 8 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Barrett • Black • Frost • Marbley • Rose • Sargus • Watson Senior Judges Beckwith • Graham • Rice • Smith • Spiegel • Weber Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Michael Merz Abel • Hogan • Kemp • King • Litkovitz • Ovington Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio has 8 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Susan Dlott. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Chief Judge Susan Dlott	1949	Dayton, OH	Clinton	12/26/1995 - Present	2009 - Present	Arthur Spiegel	U. of Pennsylvania, B.A., 1970	Boston U. School of Law, J.D., 1973
Judge Edmund Sargus	1953	Wheeling, WV	Clinton	8/1/1996 - Present		Carl Rubin	Brown U., A.B., 1975	Case Western Reserve U. School of Law, J.D., 1978
Judge Algenon Marbley	1954	Morehead City, NC	Clinton	11/7/1997 - Present		John Holschuh	U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, B.A., 1976	Northwestern U. School of Law, J.D., 1979
Judge Thomas Rose	1948	Circleville, OH	W. Bush	5/10/2002 - Present		Herman Weber	Ohio U., B.S., 1970	U. of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D., 1973
Judge Gregory Frost	1949	Newark, OH	W. Bush	3/11/2003 - Present		George Smith	Wittenberg U., B.A., 1971	Ohio Northern U. Law School, J.D., 1974
Judge Michael Watson	1956	Akron, OH	W. Bush	9/10/2004 - Present		James Graham	Ohio State U., B.A., 1983	Capital U. School of Law, J.D., 1987
Judge Michael Barrett	1951	Cincinnati, OH	W. Bush	5/5/2006 - Present		Walter Rice	U. of Cincinnati, B.A., 1974	U. of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D., 1977
Judge Timothy S. Black	1953	Brookline, MA	Obama	5/13/2010 - Present		Sandra Beckwith	Harvard U., A.B., 1975	Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky U., J.D., 1983

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio has 6 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Sandra Beckwith	H.W. Bush	2/10/1992 - 1/1/2009	2004 - 2009	1/1/2009 - Present	U. of Cincinnati, B.A., 1965	U. of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D., 1968
Senior Judge S. Arthur Spiegel	Carter	5/23/1980 - 6/5/1995		6/5/1995 - Present	U. of Cincinnati, B.A., 1942	Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1948
Senior Judge Herman Weber	Reagan	4/4/1985 - 1/1/2002		1/1/2002 - Present	Otterbein College, B.A., 1949	Ohio State U. College of Law, J.D., 1952
Senior Judge George Smith	Reagan	11/9/1987 - 1/1/2002		1/1/2002 - Present	Ohio State U., B.A., 1957	Ohio State U. College of Law, J.D., 1959
Senior Judge James Graham	Reagan	9/26/1986 - 8/31/2004	2003 - 2004	8/31/2004 - Present	Ohio State U., B.A., 1962	Ohio State U. College of Law, J.D., 1962
Senior Judge Walter Rice	Carter	5/23/1980 - 11/30/2004	1996-2003	11/30/2004 - Present	Northwestern U., B.A., 1958	Columbia Law School, J.D., 1962

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge (Recalled) Michael Merz	1984 - 03/29/2011	Harvard, A.B., 1967	Harvard Law, J.D., 1970
Magistrate Judge (Recalled) Mark Abel	05/01/1971 - Present	Ohio U., B.A., 1966	Ohio State U. Law, J.D., 1969
Magistrate Judge Norah King	06/1992 - Present	Rosary College, B.A., 1971	Ohio State U. Law, J.D., 1975
Chief Magistrate Judge Terence Kemp	09/1987 - Present	Brown U. A.B., 1974	U. of Virginia Law, J.D., 1977
Magistrate Judge Sharon Ovington	10/28/2002 - Present	U. of Cincinnati, B.A., 1978	U. of Dayton Law, J.D., 1981
Magistrate Judge Karen L. Litkovitz	12/20/2010 - Present	Bowling Green State U., B.S.	U. of Cincinnati Law, J.D., 1984
Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers
Magistrate Judge Stephanie Bowman
Magistrate Judge Michael J. Newman

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Carl Weinman	1962 - 1973
Carl Rubin	1979 - 1990
David Porter	1977 - 1979
Joseph Kinneary	1973 - 1975
Timothy Hogan	1975 - 1977
Mell Underwood	1953 - 1962
Robert Reasoner Nevin	1948 - 1952
Walter Rice	1996-2003
James Graham	2003 - 2004
John Holschuh	1990 - 1996
Sandra Beckwith	2004 - 2009

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. John Holschuh
2. Humphrey Howe Leavitt
3. Philip Bergen Swing
4. George Read Sage
5. Albert Clifton Thompson
6. John Elbert Sater
7. Howard Clark Hollister
8. John Weld Peck
9. Smith Hickenlooper
10. Benson Hough
11. Robert Reasoner Nevin
12. Mell Underwood
13. John Druffel
14. Lester Cecil
15. Robert Duncan
16. Timothy Hogan
17. Joseph Kinneary
18. John Peck II
19. David Porter
20. Carl Rubin
21. Carl Weinman