Harold Duane Vietor
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, Harold Duane Vietor was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He earned a law degree from University of Iowa College of Law in 1958. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1931–2016
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Iowa 1955 · University of Iowa College of Law 1958
- Succeeded by
- Robert W. Pratt
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Southern District of Iowa | Carter (D) | 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 Iowa | B.A. | 1955 |
| University of Iowa College of Law | J.D. | 1958 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Vietor was assigned 3,090 district-court cases (1978–2014). Median time from filing to termination: 236 days across 3,089 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 58 of Vietor’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 55 were affirmed, 3 reversed or vacated. 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, Vietor authored 90 published opinions for the court (1979–2003). Most cited: McDonell v. Hunter (48 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | McDonell v. Hunter | 612 F. Supp. 1122 | 48 |
| 1982 | Watson v. Nix | 551 F. Supp. 1 | 35 |
| 1981 | United States v. Baker | 520 F. Supp. 1080 | 24 |
| 1993 | McDonald's Corp. v. Nelson | 822 F. Supp. 597 | 22 |
| 1993 | Houghton v. Sipco, Inc. | 828 F. Supp. 631 | 21 |
| 1985 | In Re Pettit | 57 B.R. 362 | 21 |
| 1985 | Graham v. Central Community Sch. Dist. of Decatur | 608 F. Supp. 531 | 18 |
| 1990 | Jew v. University of Iowa | 749 F. Supp. 946 | 17 |
| 1994 | Van Pilsum v. Iowa State University of Science & Technology | 863 F. Supp. 935 | 16 |
| 1981 | Bishop v. Committee on Professional Ethics & Conduct of the Iowa State Bar Ass'n | 521 F. Supp. 1219 | 16 |
| 1982 | Olberding v. US Dept. of Def., Dept. of the Army | 564 F. Supp. 907 | 14 |
| 1981 | United States v. Earley | 505 F. Supp. 117 | 14 |
| 1991 | United States v. Hartbrodt | 773 F. Supp. 1240 | 12 |
| 1987 | Matter of Pester Refining Company | 85 B.R. 520 | 12 |
| 1991 | United States v. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. | 781 F. Supp. 1400 | 11 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 90 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 Harold Duane Vietor?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed Harold Duane Vietor to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in 1979.
- Was Harold Duane Vietor appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Harold Duane Vietor was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Harold Duane Vietor's confirmation vote?
- Harold Duane Vietor was confirmed by voice vote on May 10, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Harold Duane Vietor on?
- Harold Duane Vietor was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
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.
37 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).