U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Fifth 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 |
|---|---|---|
| A[llen] Joe Fish | Reagan (R) | 1983 |
| Robert B. Maloney | Reagan (R) | 1985 |
| Sidney Allen Fitzwater | Reagan (R) | 1986 |
| Samuel Ray Cummings | Reagan (R) | 1987 |
| Terry R. Means | Bush (R) | 1991 |
| Sam A. Lindsay | Clinton (D) | 1998 |
| David C. Godbey | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| James E. Kinkeade | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Jane J. Boyle | Bush (R) | 2004 |
| Reed Charles O'Connor | Bush (R) | 2007 |
| Karen Gren Scholer | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Ada Elene Brown | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| James Wesley Hendrix | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Mark Timothy Pittman | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Brantley David Starr | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Barbara M. Lynn | Clinton (D) | 1999–2025 |
| [Elton] Joe Kendall | Bush (R) | 1992–2002 |
| Jorge Antonio Solis | Bush (R) | 1991–2016 |
| John H. McBryde | Bush (R) | 1990–2022 |
| David Owen Belew Jr. | Carter (D) | 1979–2001 |
| Jerry Buchmeyer | Carter (D) | 1979–2009 |
| Mary Lou Robinson | Carter (D) | 1979–2019 |
| Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr. | Carter (D) | 1979–2008 |
| Patrick Errol Higginbotham | Ford (R) | 1975–1982 |
| Robert William Porter | Nixon (R) | 1974–1991 |
| Eldon Brooks Mahon | Nixon (R) | 1972–2005 |
| Robert Madden Hill | Nixon (R) | 1970–1984 |
| Halbert Owen Woodward | Johnson (D) | 1968–2000 |
| William McLaughlin Taylor Jr. | Johnson (D) | 1966–1985 |
| Leo Brewster | Kennedy (D) | 1962–1979 |
| Sarah Tilghman Hughes | Kennedy (D) | 1962–1985 |
| Joe Ewing Estes | Eisenhower (R) | 1955–1989 |
| Joseph Brannon Dooley | Truman (D) | 1947–1967 |
| Thomas Whitfield Davidson | Roosevelt (D) | 1936–1974 |
| William Hawley Atwell | Harding (R) | 1923–1961 |
| James Clifton Wilson | Wilson (D) | 1919–1951 |
| Edward Roscoe Meek | McKinley (R) | 1899–1939 |
| John B. Rector | Harrison (R) | 1892–1898 |
| Andrew Phelps McCormick | Hayes (R) | 1879–1892 |
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 1879.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.