U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Walter Herbert Rice | Carter (D) | 1980 |
| Herman Jacob Weber | Reagan (R) | 1985 |
| James L. Graham | Reagan (R) | 1986 |
| Sandra Shank Beckwith | Bush (R) | 1992 |
| Susan J. Dlott | Clinton (D) | 1995 |
| Edmund A. Sargus Jr. | Clinton (D) | 1996 |
| Algenon L. Marbley | Clinton (D) | 1997 |
| Thomas M. Rose | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Michael H. Watson | Bush (R) | 2004 |
| Michael Ryan Barrett | Bush (R) | 2006 |
| Timothy Seymour Black | Obama (D) | 2010 |
| Douglas Russell Cole | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Matthew Walden McFarland | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Sarah Daggett Morrison | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Michael Jay Newman | Trump (R) | 2020 |
| Jeffery Paul Hopkins | Biden (D) | 2022 |
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Gregory L. Frost | Bush (R) | 2003–2016 |
| George Curtis Smith | Reagan (R) | 1987–2020 |
| John David Holschuh | Carter (D) | 1980–2011 |
| S. Arthur Spiegel | Carter (D) | 1980–2014 |
| Robert Morton Duncan | Nixon (R) | 1974–1985 |
| Carl Bernard Rubin | Nixon (R) | 1971–1995 |
| Timothy Sylvester Hogan | Johnson (D) | 1966–1989 |
| Joseph Peter Kinneary | Johnson (D) | 1966–2003 |
| David Stewart Porter | Johnson (D) | 1966–1989 |
| John Weld Peck II | Kennedy (D) | 1962–1966 |
| Carl Andrew Weinman | Eisenhower (R) | 1959–1979 |
| Lester LeFevre Cecil | Eisenhower (R) | 1953–1959 |
| John H. Druffel | Roosevelt (D) | 1937–1967 |
| Mell Gilbert Underwood | Roosevelt (D) | 1936–1972 |
| Robert Reasoner Nevin | Coolidge (R) | 1929–1952 |
| Benson W. Hough | Coolidge (R) | 1925–1935 |
| Smith Hickenlooper | Harding (R) | 1923–1929 |
| John Weld Peck | Wilson (D) | 1919–1923 |
| Howard Clark Hollister | Taft (R) | 1910–1919 |
| Albert Clifton Thompson | McKinley (R) | 1898–1910 |
| George Read Sage | Arthur (R) | 1884–1898 |
| William White | Arthur (R) | 1883–1883 |
| Philip Bergen Swing | Grant (R) | 1871–1882 |
| Humphrey Howe Leavitt | (reassignment) (N) | 1855–1871 |
| John Elbert Sater | Roosevelt (R) | ?–1924 |
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 1855.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.