Hugh Franklin Waters
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and confirmed by voice vote, Hugh Franklin Waters was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. He earned a law degree from St. Louis University School of Law in 1964. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1932–2002
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1981
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Arkansas 1955 · St. Louis Law 1964
- Succeeded
- Paul X Williams
- Succeeded by
- Robert Toombs Dawson
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Western District of Arkansas succeeded Paul X Williams | Reagan (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 Arkansas | B.S.Ag.E. | 1955 |
| St. Louis University School of Law | LL.B. | 1964 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Waters was assigned 3,046 district-court cases (1977–2001). Median time from filing to termination: 190 days across 3,046 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.
In our data, Waters authored 230 published opinions for the court (1981–2001). Most cited: Scholtes v. Signal Delivery Service, Inc. (40 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Scholtes v. Signal Delivery Service, Inc. | 548 F. Supp. 487 | 40 |
| 1998 | Matthews v. Jefferson | 29 F. Supp. 2d 525 | 28 |
| 1987 | Holiday v. Travelers Insurance | 666 F. Supp. 1286 | 26 |
| 1992 | Commercial Union Insurance Companies v. Sky, Inc. | 810 F. Supp. 249 | 25 |
| 1995 | Union Ins. Co. v. the Knife Co., Inc. | 897 F. Supp. 1213 | 24 |
| 1986 | Robertson v. White | 633 F. Supp. 954 | 24 |
| 1992 | Resolution Trust Corp. v. Kerr | 804 F. Supp. 1091 | 23 |
| 1989 | First National Bank of Fayetteville v. Dairy (In Re Circle J Dairy, Inc.) | 112 B.R. 297 | 23 |
| 1986 | Van Halen Music v. Palmer | 626 F. Supp. 1163 | 23 |
| 1996 | Gilmer v. Walt Disney Co. | 915 F. Supp. 1001 | 20 |
| 1986 | Robertson v. White | 635 F. Supp. 851 | 20 |
| 1988 | Gaston's White River Resort v. Rush | 701 F. Supp. 1431 | 19 |
| 1984 | Horton v. Taylor | 585 F. Supp. 224 | 19 |
| 1981 | Friddle v. Hardee's Food Systems, Inc. | 534 F. Supp. 148 | 19 |
| 1994 | Roberson v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co. | 863 F. Supp. 929 | 17 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 230 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 Hugh Franklin Waters?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Hugh Franklin Waters to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in 1981.
- Was Hugh Franklin Waters appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Hugh Franklin Waters was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Hugh Franklin Waters's confirmation vote?
- Hugh Franklin Waters was confirmed by voice vote on October 21, 1981. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Hugh Franklin Waters on?
- Hugh Franklin Waters was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- 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.
20 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).