U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Sixth Circuit, which reviews its decisions on appeal. This page lists every judge to serve on the court, current and former, with who appointed them and whom they succeeded.
| Judge | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Aleta Arthur Trauger | Clinton (D) | 1998 |
| Waverly David Crenshaw Jr. | Obama (D) | 2016 |
| William Lynn Campbell Jr. | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Eli Jeremy Richardson | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Hunter Sharp | Obama (D) | 2011–2017 |
| William Joseph Haynes Jr. | Clinton (D) | 1999–2017 |
| Todd J. Campbell | Clinton (D) | 1995–2021 |
| Robert L. Echols | Bush (R) | 1992–2010 |
| Thomas Aquinas Higgins | Reagan (R) | 1984–2018 |
| John Trice Nixon | Carter (D) | 1980–2019 |
| Thomas Anderton Wiseman Jr. | Carter (D) | 1978–2020 |
| Leland Clure Morton | Nixon (R) | 1970–1998 |
| Frank Gray Jr. | Kennedy (D) | 1962–1978 |
| William Ernest Miller | Eisenhower (R) | 1955–1970 |
| Leslie Rogers Darr | Roosevelt (D) | 1939–1940 |
| Elmer David Davies | Roosevelt (D) | 1939–1957 |
| John J. Gore | Harding (R) | 1923–1939 |
| Xenophon Hicks | Harding (R) | 1923–1928 |
| Edward Terry Sanford | Roosevelt (R) | 1908–1923 |
| Charles Dickens Clark | Cleveland (D) | 1895–1908 |
| David McKendree Key | Hayes (R) | 1880–1895 |
| Connally Findlay Trigg | Lincoln (R) | 1862–1880 |
| West Hughes Humphreys | Pierce (D) | 1853–1862 |
| Morgan Welles Brown | (assignment) (N) | 1839–1853 |
How a judge gets here. Each judge is nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, then holds a numbered seat, for life, until they take senior status, or until they leave the bench. Open any judge to see who appointed them, how the Senate voted, and whom they succeeded, a chain that runs back to 1839.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.