U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Stewart Lee | Reagan (R) | 1984 |
| Henry Travillion Wingate | Reagan (R) | 1985 |
| David C. Bramlette | Bush (R) | 1991 |
| Louis Guirola Jr. | Bush (R) | 2004 |
| Keith Starrett | Bush (R) | 2004 |
| Daniel Porter Jordan III | Bush (R) | 2006 |
| Halil Suleyman Ozerden | Bush (R) | 2007 |
| Carlton Wayne Reeves | Obama (D) | 2010 |
| Kristi Haskins Johnson | Trump (R) | 2020 |
| Taylor Brantley McNeel | Trump (R) | 2020 |
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Charles Willis Pickering Sr. | Bush (R) | 1990–2004 |
| Walter J. Gex III | Reagan (R) | 1986–2020 |
| William Henry Barbour Jr. | Reagan (R) | 1983–2021 |
| Walter Louis Nixon Jr. | Johnson (D) | 1968–1989 |
| Dan Monroe Russell Jr. | Johnson (D) | 1965–2011 |
| William Harold Cox | Kennedy (D) | 1961–1988 |
| Sidney Carr Mize | Roosevelt (D) | 1937–1965 |
| Edwin Ruthven Holmes | Wilson (D) | 1918–1936 |
| Henry Clay Niles | Harrison (R) | 1892–1918 |
| Robert Andrews Hill | Johnson (D) | 1866–1891 |
| Samuel Jameson Gholson | Buren (D) | 1839–1861 |
| George Adams | (reassignment) (N) | 1838–1838 |
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 1838.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.