U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is one of the thirteen U.S. courts of appeals, the intermediate appellate tier of the federal judiciary. It hears appeals from the federal district courts within the Tenth Circuit, which covers Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. Its decisions bind those courts unless reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
| Judge | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Stephanie Kulp Seymour | Carter (D) | 1979 |
| Stephen Hale Anderson | Reagan (R) | 1985 |
| Bobby Ray Baldock | Reagan (R) | 1985 |
| John Carbone Porfilio | Reagan (R) | 1985 |
| Wade Brorby | Reagan (R) | 1988 |
| David M. Ebel | Reagan (R) | 1988 |
| Paul Joseph Kelly Jr. | Bush (R) | 1992 |
| Mary Beck Briscoe | Clinton (D) | 1995 |
| Carlos F. Lucero | Clinton (D) | 1995 |
| Michael R. Murphy | Clinton (D) | 1995 |
| Harris L. Hartz | Bush (R) | 2001 |
| Terrence L. O'Brien | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Timothy M. Tymkovich | Bush (R) | 2003 |
| Jerome A. Holmes | Bush (R) | 2006 |
| Scott Milne Matheson Jr. | Obama (D) | 2010 |
| Robert Edwin Bacharach | Obama (D) | 2013 |
| Gregory Alan Phillips | Obama (D) | 2013 |
| Carolyn Baldwin McHugh | Obama (D) | 2014 |
| Nancy Louise Moritz | Obama (D) | 2014 |
| Allison Hartwell Eid | Trump (R) | 2017 |
| Joel McElroy Carson III | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Veronica Sophia Rossman | Biden (D) | 2021 |
| Richard Edward Neel Federico | Biden (D) | 2023 |
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Neil M. Gorsuch | Bush (R) | 2006–2017 |
| Michael W. McConnell | Bush (R) | 2002–2009 |
| Robert Harlan Henry | Clinton (D) | 1994–2010 |
| Deanell Reece Tacha | Reagan (R) | 1985–2011 |
| James Kenneth Logan | Carter (D) | 1977–1998 |
| Monroe G. McKay | Carter (D) | 1977–2020 |
| James Emmett Barrett | Nixon (R) | 1971–2011 |
| William Edward Doyle | Nixon (R) | 1971–1986 |
| Robert Hugh McWilliams Jr. | Nixon (R) | 1970–2013 |
| William Judson Holloway Jr. | Johnson (D) | 1968–2014 |
| John Joseph Hickey | Johnson (D) | 1966–1970 |
| Oliver Seth | Kennedy (D) | 1962–1996 |
| Delmas Carl Hill | Kennedy (D) | 1961–1989 |
| Jean Sala Breitenstein | Eisenhower (R) | 1957–1986 |
| David Thomas Lewis | Eisenhower (R) | 1956–1983 |
| John Coleman Pickett | Truman (D) | 1949–1983 |
| Alfred Paul Murrah | Roosevelt (D) | 1940–1975 |
| Walter August Huxman | Roosevelt (D) | 1939–1972 |
| Robert Lee Williams | Roosevelt (D) | 1937–1948 |
| Sam Gilbert Bratton | Roosevelt (D) | 1933–1963 |
| John Hazelton Cotteral | (reassignment) (N) | 1929–1933 |
| Robert E. Lewis | (reassignment) (N) | 1929–1941 |
| George Thomas McDermott | Hoover (R) | 1929–1937 |
| Orie Leon Phillips | Hoover (R) | 1929–1974 |
The federal trial courts whose appeals this circuit reviews.
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 1929.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.