United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

	Western District of Michigan
	Sixth Circuit
	;
	Active judges
	Bell • Jonker • Neff
	Senior Judges
	Enslen • Miles • Quist
	Magistrate Judges
	Brenneman • Greeley • Scoville • Carmody
	Former Judges

	Western District of Michigan
	Sixth Circuit
	;
	Active judges
	Bell • Jonker • Neff
	Senior Judges
	Enslen • Miles • Quist
	Magistrate Judges
	Brenneman • Greeley • Scoville • Carmody
	Former Judges

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Court
Judges

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

Contents

1 Court
1.1 Vacancy warning level
1.2 Jurisdiction
1.2.1 Cases heard
1.2.2 Case load
1.3 Clerk's office
1.4 History
1.4.1 Court history
1.4.2 Judicial posts
1.4.3 Notable decisions
1.4.4 Federal courthouse
1.5 Major news
1.6 See also
1.7 External links
1.8 References
2 Judges

The United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan is the United States district court with jurisdiction over of the western portion of the state of Michigan, including the entire Upper Peninsula. It was established by an act of Congress on December 24, 1863, when the United States District Court for the District of Michigan was split into two judicial districts. Later, it was further divided into a Southern Division and a Northern Division.

The District Court is based in Grand Rapids, courthouses also located in Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Marquette in the Upper Peninsula.

The United States Attorney's Office of the Western District of Michigan represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. 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.

Vacancy warning level

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

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Western District of Michigan (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Western District of Michigan consists of all the following counties in the western part of the state of Michigan.

The District Court is based in Grand Rapids, with courthouses also located in Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Marquette in the Upper Peninsula.

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 Western District of Michigan 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	1646	2205	3851	2223	1628	6.4	6.7	43(3.1%)	.0	25
2009	1672	2127	3799	2159	1640	6.8	6.9	57(4.1%)	.0	21
2008	1657	2059	3716	2059	1657	7.1	8.4	51(3.5%)	.0	16
2007	1547	2052	3599	1926	1673	7.0	7.2	33(2.3%)	27.6	19
2006	1387	2001	3388	1887	1501	7.4	8.0	38(2.8%)	33.0	22

^*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 Western District of Michigan has four separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
Grand Rapids Division	399 Federal Bldg 110 Michigan St NW Grand Rapids MI 49503	(616) 456-2381
Kalamazoo Division	B-35 Federal Bldg 410 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49007	(269) 337-5706
Lansing Division	113 Federal Bldg 315 W Allegan St Lansing MI 48933	(517) 377-1559
Marquette Division	PO Box 698 229 Federal Bldg 202 W Washington St Marquette MI 49855	(906) 226-2021

^[1]

History

Court history

On July 1, 1836, Statute 5 Stat. 61 organized the state of Michigan as one judicial district. One judgeship was authorized for this U.S. district court, and being that it was not assigned to a judicial circuit, the district court was granted the same jurisdiction as the United States circuit courts, excluding appeals and writs of error, which are the jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court.

On March 3, 1837, the circuit court jurisdiction was repealed, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Michigan was assigned to the Seventh Circuit, in addition to establishing a circuit court for the district.

Congress reorganized the circuits and assigned Michigan to the Eighth Circuit on July 15, 1862, followed by being reassigned to the Seventh Circuit on January 28, 1863.

The state of Michigan divided into two judicial districts on February 24, 1863. The districts were known as the Eastern District of Michigan and the Western District of Michigan. One judgeship was authorized for each district, and the district judge serving the District of Michigan was assigned over to the Eastern District of Michigan.

Congress again reorganized the circuits and assigned Michigan over to the Sixth Circuit on July 23, 1866. Over time 3 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 4 current posts.^[2]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Western District of Michigan:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
February 24, 1863	12 Stat. 660	1
February 17, 1925	43 Stat. 949	2
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8	2
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	4
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	5 (1 temporary)
1996	Temporary position expired	4

^[2]

Notable cases

This page is missing notable case information.

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

Federal courthouse

Four separate courthouses serve the Western District of Michigan.

Major news

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

External links

References

↑ Court Clerk Information(Select the appropriate division for info and map)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 FJC History of the Western District of Michigan

Share this Court:

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

Contents

1 Court
2 Judges
2.1 Active Judges
2.1.1 Article III judges
2.1.2 Pending appointments
2.1.3 Senior judges
2.2 Past judges
2.2.1 Former Chief judges
2.2.2 Former judges

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan has 4 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Paul Maloney. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Chief Judge Paul Maloney	1949	Cleveland, OH	W. Bush	7/13/2007 - Present	2008 - Present	Richard Enslen	Lehigh U., B.A., 1972	U. of Detroit School of Law, J.D., 1975
Judge Robert Jonker	1960	Holland, MI	W. Bush	7/16/2007 - Present		Gordon Quist	Calvin College, B.A., 1982	U. of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1985
Judge Janet Neff	1945	Wilkinsburg, PA	W. Bush	8/6/2007 - Present		David McKeague	U. of Pittsburgh, B.A., 1967	Wayne State U. Law School, J.D., 1970
Judge Robert Holmes Bell	1944	Lansing, MI	Reagan	7/2/1987 - Present	2001 - 2008	Wendell Miles	Wheaton College, B.A., 1966	Wayne State U. Law School, J.D., 1969

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan has 3 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 Wendell Miles	Nixon	4/17/1974 - 5/6/1986	1979 - 1986	5/6/1986 - Present	Hope College, A.B., 1938	U. of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1942
Senior Judge Richard Enslen	Carter	12/21/1979 - 9/1/2005	1995 - 2001	9/1/2005 - Present		Wayne State U., LL.B., 1958
Senior Judge Gordon Quist	H.W. Bush	6/30/1992 - 1/1/2006		1/1/2006 - Present	Michigan State U., B.A., 1959	George Washington U. Law School, J.D., 1962

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Hugh Brenneman, Jr.
Magistrate Judge Tim Greeley	01/1988 - Present	Western Michigan U., 1976	Wayne State U. Law, J.D., 1980
Magistrate Judge Joe Scoville	01/1988 - Present	Michigan State U., B.A., 1971	U. of Michigan Law, J.D., 1974
Magistrate Judge Ellen Carmody	10/10/2000 - Present	Grand Valley State College, B.Phil	U. of Michigan Law, J.D.

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Raymond Starr	1954 - 1961
Noel Fox	1971 - 1979
Wallace Kent	1961 - 1971
Douglas Hillman	1986 - 1991
Benjamin Gibson	1991 - 1995
Robert Holmes Bell	2001 - 2008
Richard Enslen	1995 - 2001
Wendell Miles	1979 - 1986

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.