Daniel L. Hovland
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by voice vote, Daniel L. Hovland is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. He earned a law degree from University of North Dakota School of Law in 1979. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1954 · age 72
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2002
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Concordia College 1976 · University of North Dakota Law 1979
- Succeeded
- Patrick Anthony Conmy
- Succeeded by
- Daniel Mack Traynor
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | District of North Dakota succeeded Patrick Anthony Conmy | G.W. Bush (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| Concordia College | B.A. | 1976 |
| University of North Dakota School of Law | J.D. | 1979 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Hovland was assigned 1,439 district-court cases (1999–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 215 days across 1,329 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 403 of Hovland’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 344 were affirmed, 41 reversed or vacated, and 18 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, Hovland authored 236 published opinions for the court (2003–2011). Most cited: Mehl v. Canadian Pacific Railway, Ltd. (31 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Mehl v. Canadian Pacific Railway, Ltd. | 417 F. Supp. 2d 1104 | 31 |
| 2006 | Atkinson v. McLaughlin | 462 F. Supp. 2d 1038 | 24 |
| 2005 | North Dakota Family Alliance, Inc. v. Bader | 361 F. Supp. 2d 1021 | 20 |
| 2007 | United States v. Lovejoy | 516 F. Supp. 2d 1032 | 12 |
| 2010 | Dj Coleman, Inc. v. Nufarm Americas, Inc. | 693 F. Supp. 2d 1055 | 11 |
| 2009 | NOKOTA HORSE CONSERVANCY, INC. v. Bernhardt | 666 F. Supp. 2d 1073 | 10 |
| 2008 | Pressdough of Bismarck, LLC v. a & W Restaurants, Inc. | 587 F. Supp. 2d 1079 | 9 |
| 2007 | Moore v. Schuetzle | 486 F. Supp. 2d 969 | 9 |
| 2006 | Wilhelm v. Credico, Inc. | 455 F. Supp. 2d 1006 | 9 |
| 2005 | Vander Wal v. Sykes Enterprises, Inc. | 377 F. Supp. 2d 738 | 9 |
| 2004 | Dyer v. Northwest Airlines Corporations | 334 F. Supp. 2d 1196 | 9 |
| 2004 | Damron v. North Dakota Commissioner of Corrections | 299 F. Supp. 2d 970 | 9 |
| 2004 | Graves v. North Dakota State Penitentiary | 325 F. Supp. 2d 1009 | 8 |
| 2003 | North Dakota v. United States Army Corps of Engineers | 264 F. Supp. 2d 871 | 8 |
| 2010 | Anderson v. Hess Corp. | 733 F. Supp. 2d 1100 | 7 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 236 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Daniel L. Hovland?
- President George W. Bush appointed Daniel L. Hovland to the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota in 2002.
- Was Daniel L. Hovland appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Daniel L. Hovland was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Daniel L. Hovland's confirmation vote?
- Daniel L. Hovland was confirmed by voice vote on November 14, 2002. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Daniel L. Hovland on?
- Daniel L. Hovland is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
23 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).