United States District Court for the District of New Mexico

• Court
• Judges

District of New Mexico Tenth Circuit Chief: Judges: 6 Posts: 7 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Armijo • Brack • Browning • Herrera • Johnson • Vazquez Senior Judges Black • Conway • Hansen • Parker Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Karen Molzen Lorenzo Garcia • Garza • Lynch • Martinez • Scott • Torgerson • Vidmar • Wormuth 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 District of New Mexico is a United States district court.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico's vacancy warning level is currently set at yellow. The court currently has one vacancy for its 7 posts. There is one pending appointment.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of New Mexico (click for larger map)

The jurisdiction of the District of New Mexico consists of all the counties in the state of New Mexico.

Court is held in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Roswell, Santa Fe, and Silver City.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown Denver at the Byron White Federal Courthouse.

Cases heard

The District of New Mexico 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	2799	5066	7865	5280	2585	1.9	8.9	203(15.7%)	0	25
2009	2936	5268	8204	5051	3153	1.7	9.6	49(3.6%)	0	24
2008	2791	4474	7265	4425	2840	2.5	9.0	194(11.2%)	0	22
2007	2550	4392	6942	4322	2620	3.1	9.3	56(3.5%)	0	21
2006	2690	4616	7306	4799	2507	3.4	10.7	58(4.3%)	0	23

*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 District of New Mexico has four separate courthouses. Matthew J. Dykman is the official clerk of court. The Clerk's office and all the court houses are open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m with a closure for lunch from 12 - 1p.m., excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Albuquerque Division	Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse 333 Lomas N.W. Ste 270 Albuquerque, NM 87102	505-348-2000
Las Cruces Division	United States District Court 100 N. Church Street, Ste 280 Las Cruces, New Mexico 88001	575-528-1400
Roswell Division	U.S. Circuit Court 500 N. Richardson Roswell, NM 88201	575-625-2388
Santa Fe Division	Santiago E. Campos United States Courthouse 106 S. Federal Place Santa Fe, NM 87501	505-988-6481

History

Court history

The District of New Mexico was established by Congress on June 20, 1910 with one post to cover the entire state. Over time 6 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 5 current posts.

Judicial posts

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

Year	Statute	Total Seats
June 20, 1910	36 Stat. 557	1
September 14, 1922	42 Stat. 837	2(1 Temporary)
1929	Post expired	1
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8	2(1 Temporary)
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	2
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	3
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	4
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	5
December 21, 2000	114 Stat. 2762	6
November 2, 2002	116 Stat. 1758	7(1 Temporary)

Notable cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions for the District of New Mexico.

• US Airways case  Judge(s):Christina Armijo

On October 9, 2009, Judge Armijo ruled in favor of the New Mexico Department of Regulation and Licensing after US Airways sued the chief licensing arm of the State of New Mexico in 2007. US Airways sued after claiming that the State of New Mexico had no jurisdiction on taking away their liquour licenses for on-board service on US Airways flights after the airline was cited for overserving passengers in the past. Judge Armijo found that the State of New Mexico had jurisdiction to regulate alcohol even in airspace citing two major airline industry laws that do not exempt airlines from in-state liquor regulations.

• Political mailer lawsuit  Judge(s):Judith Herrera      *New Mexico Youth Organized, et. al v. Mary Herrera 1:2008-cv-01156

Judge Herrera on August 3, 2009, ruled in favor of two non-profit associations after they sued the state over requirements that they should register as a political action committee. The New Mexico Youth Organized and SouthWest Organizing Project sent mailers to prospective voters as the organizations expressed criticism towards candidates in 2008. The judge ruled that the actions of the New Mexico Attorney General to require the organizations to register as a PAC subjected them to a greater burden over most non-profits.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see New Mexico judicial news.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

External links

• United States District Court for the District of New Mexico Official Website
• United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico Official Website

References

District of New Mexico Tenth Circuit Chief: Judges: 6 Posts: 7 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Armijo • Brack • Browning • Herrera • Johnson • Vazquez Senior Judges Black • Conway • Hansen • Parker Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Karen Molzen Lorenzo Garcia • Garza • Lynch • Martinez • Scott • Torgerson • Vidmar • Wormuth Former Judges

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

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico has 6 posts and 1 vacancy. The current Chief Judge is Christina Armijo. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge Martha Vazquez	1953	Santa Barbara, CA	Clinton	10/1/1993 - Present	2003 - 2010	Santiago Campos	University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1975	University of Notre Dame, J.D., 1978
Chief Judge Christina Armijo	1951	Las Vegas, NM	W. Bush	11/12/2001 - Present	10/1/2012 - Present	New Seat|114 Stat. 2762	U. of New Mexico, B.A., 1972	U. of New Mexico Law, J.D., 1975
Judge Robert Brack	1953	Lynnwood, CA	W. Bush	7/15/2003 - Present		New Seat|116 Stat. 1758	Eastern New Mexico U., B.A., 1975	U. of New Mexico Law, J.D., 1978
Judge James O. Browning	1956	Levelland, TX	W. Bush	8/1/2003 - Present		Curtis Hansen	Yale, 1978	U. of Virginia Law, J.D., 1981
Judge William P. Johnson	1959	Roanoke, VA	W. Bush	12/21/2001 - Present		John Conway	Virginia Military Institute, 1981	Washington and Lee U. Law, J.D., 1985
Judge Judith Herrera	1954	Chicago, IL	W. Bush	6/13/2004 - Present		James Parker	U. of New Mexico, 1976	Georgetown Law, 1979

Pending appointments

The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico has 1 appointee pending and 1 vacancy. This is a list of the current pending appointees to the court:

Judge	Confirmation	Bachelors	Law
Kenneth John Gonzales		U. of New Mexico, B.A., 1988	U. of New Mexico Law, J.D., 1994

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico has 4 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 John Conway	Reagan	6/16/1986 - 9/1/2000	1994 - 2000	9/1/2000 - Present	U.S. Naval Academy, B.S., 1956	Washburn U. Law, LL.B., 1963
Senior Judge Curtis Hansen	H.W. Bush	10/2/1992 - 4/18/2003		4/18/2003 - Present	U. of Iowa, B.S., 1956	U. of New Mexico Law, J.D., 1961
Senior Judge James Parker	H.W. Bush	11/6/1987 - 9/1/2003	2000 - 2003	9/1/2003 - Present	Rice University, B.A., 1959	University of Texas School of Law, LL.B., 1962
Senior judge Bruce Black	Clinton	12/26/1995 - 10/1/2012	2010 - 2012		Albion College of Michigan, B.A., 1969	Michigan Law, J.D., 1971

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Lorenzo Garcia	11/09/1992 - Present
Magistrate Judge Carmen Garza	08/25/2006 - Present
Magistrate Judge Lourdes Martinez	04/01/2003 - Present	New Mexico State U.	U. of New Mexico Law
Chief Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen	04/26/1999 - Present	New Mexico State U., B.A., 1973	U. of New Mexico, J.D., 1985
Magistrate Judge Robert Scott	04/01/2003 - Present
Magistrate Judge Alan Torgerson	03/03/2003 - Present
Magistrate Judge William P. Lynch	04/21/2005 - Present	Northern Illinois U.	U. of Illinois, J.D.
Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth	05/18/2009 - Present	Davidson College, B.S., 1992	Wake Forest U. Law, J.D., 1995
Magistrate Judge Stephan Vidmar	12/27/2011 - Present

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Waldo Rogers	1963 - 1964
Harry Payne	1964 - 1978
Carl Hatch	1954 - 1963
Santiago Campos	1987 - 1989
Juan Burciaga	1989 - 1994
Howard Bratton	1978 - 1987
Bruce Black	2010 - 2012
James Parker	2000 - 2003
John Conway	1994 - 2000
Martha Vazquez	2003 - 2010

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. Bobby Baldock
2. William Hayes Pope
3. Colin Neblett
4. Orie Leon Phillips
5. Howard Bratton
6. Juan Burciaga
7. Santiago Campos
8. Carl Hatch
9. Edwin Mechem
10. Harry Payne
11. Waldo Rogers