Joe L. Heaton
Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and confirmed by voice vote, Joe L. Heaton is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. He earned a law degree from University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1976. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1951 · age 75
- Appointed by
- George W. Bush, 2001
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Northwestern Oklahoma State 1973 · University of Oklahoma College of Law 1976
- Succeeded
- Ralph Gordon Thompson
- Succeeded by
- Bernard M. Jones
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Western District of Oklahoma succeeded Ralph Gordon Thompson | 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
| Northwestern Oklahoma State University | B.A. | 1973 |
| University of Oklahoma College of Law | J.D. | 1976 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Heaton was assigned 3,635 district-court cases (1995–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 207 days across 3,354 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 248 of Heaton’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 218 were affirmed, 13 reversed or vacated, and 17 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, Heaton authored 19 published opinions for the court (2002–2010). Most cited: Coffey v. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (10 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Coffey v. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. | 623 F. Supp. 2d 1257 | 10 |
| 2010 | Tucker v. Oliver | 423 B.R. 378 | 5 |
| 2010 | Peoples Electric Cooperative v. Western Farmers Electric Cooperative | 746 F. Supp. 2d 1202 | 4 |
| 2008 | Melton v. Farmers Insurance Group | 619 F. Supp. 2d 1131 | 4 |
| 2003 | Anderson v. Dow Agrosciences LLC | 262 F. Supp. 2d 1280 | 4 |
| 2002 | Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund 4, Inc. v. Morgan Keegan & Co. | 200 F. Supp. 2d 1313 | 3 |
| 2006 | Cohen v. Winkleman | 428 F. Supp. 2d 1184 | 2 |
| 2005 | Gouthro v. General Motors Corp. | 383 F. Supp. 2d 1340 | 2 |
| 2008 | Petzold v. Jones | 619 F. Supp. 2d 1143 | 1 |
| 2008 | United States v. Rinehart | 539 F. Supp. 2d 1334 | 1 |
| 2005 | Largent v. General Motors Corp. | 385 F. Supp. 2d 1172 | 1 |
| 2003 | Hatchett v. K & B Transportation, Inc. | 263 F. Supp. 2d 1315 | 1 |
| 2005 | In Re General Motors Corp., \ | 386 F. Supp. 2d 1220 | 0 |
| 2005 | Haehn v. General Motors Corp. | 385 F. Supp. 2d 1176 | 0 |
| 2005 | Smith v. Strongbuilt, Inc. | 393 F. Supp. 2d 1254 | 0 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 19 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 Joe L. Heaton?
- President George W. Bush appointed Joe L. Heaton to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in 2001.
- Was Joe L. Heaton appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Joe L. Heaton was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Joe L. Heaton's confirmation vote?
- Joe L. Heaton was confirmed by voice vote on December 6, 2001. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Joe L. Heaton on?
- Joe L. Heaton is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
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.
24 years on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).