David L. Bunning
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and confirmed by voice vote, David L. Bunning is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He earned a law degree from University of Kentucky College of Law in 1991. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1966 · age 60
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2002
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Kentucky 1988 · University of Kentucky College of Law 1991
- Succeeded
- William Odis Bertelsman
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Eastern District of Kentucky succeeded William Odis Bertelsman | 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
| University of Kentucky | B.A. | 1988 |
| University of Kentucky College of Law | J.D. | 1991 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Bunning was assigned 3,658 district-court cases (1993–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 237 days across 3,095 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 411 of Bunning’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 346 were affirmed, 42 reversed or vacated, and 23 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, Bunning authored 32 published opinions for the court (2002–2011). Most cited: Gresh v. Waste Services of America, Inc. (45 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Gresh v. Waste Services of America, Inc. | 738 F. Supp. 2d 702 | 45 |
| 2011 | Bradford v. Bracken County | 767 F. Supp. 2d 740 | 27 |
| 2004 | Maynard v. CSX Transportation, Inc. | 360 F. Supp. 2d 836 | 22 |
| 2006 | Kruse v. AFLAC International, Inc. | 458 F. Supp. 2d 375 | 21 |
| 2003 | Boyd County High School Gay Straight Alliance v. Board of Education | 258 F. Supp. 2d 667 | 19 |
| 2011 | Mudd v. Yarbrough | 786 F. Supp. 2d 1236 | 15 |
| 2010 | Hollowell v. Cincinnati Ventilating Co., Inc. | 711 F. Supp. 2d 751 | 11 |
| 2007 | Zurich American Insurance v. Lexington Coal Co. (In Re HNRC Dissolution Co.) | 371 B.R. 210 | 11 |
| 2006 | Estate of Bigham Ex Rel. Bigham v. Daimlerchrysler Corp. | 462 F. Supp. 2d 766 | 10 |
| 2005 | Shepherd v. Unumprovident Corp. | 381 F. Supp. 2d 608 | 7 |
| 2011 | Griffith v. Kuester | 780 F. Supp. 2d 536 | 6 |
| 2008 | United States v. Samuels | 543 F. Supp. 2d 669 | 6 |
| 2002 | Bituminous Casualty Corp. v. Combs Contracting Inc. | 236 F. Supp. 2d 737 | 5 |
| 2011 | KENTUCKY RIVERKEEPER, INC. v. Midkiff | 800 F. Supp. 2d 846 | 4 |
| 2010 | ATIA v. Delta Airlines, Inc. | 692 F. Supp. 2d 693 | 3 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 32 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 David L. Bunning?
- President George W. Bush appointed David L. Bunning to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2002.
- Was David L. Bunning appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- David L. Bunning was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was David L. Bunning's confirmation vote?
- David L. Bunning was confirmed by voice vote on February 14, 2002. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is David L. Bunning on?
- David L. Bunning is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- 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.
24 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).