Richard Howard Battey
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Richard Howard Battey was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. He earned a law degree from University of South Dakota School of Law (now Knudson School of Law) in 1953. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1929–2017
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1985
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of South Dakota Law (now Knudson School of Law) 1953
- Succeeded
- Andrew Wendell Bogue
- Succeeded by
- Karen E. Schreier
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | District of South Dakota succeeded Andrew Wendell Bogue | 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 South Dakota | 1950 | |
| University of South Dakota School of Law (now Knudson School of Law) | J.D. | 1953 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Battey was assigned 1,489 district-court cases (1988–2012). Median time from filing to termination: 173 days across 1,489 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 17 of Battey’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 14 were affirmed, 1 reversed or vacated, and 2 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, Battey authored 63 published opinions for the court (1986–2009). Most cited: Mousseaux v. United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs (38 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A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included.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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Mousseaux v. United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs | 806 F. Supp. 1433 | 38 |
| 1988 | United States Ex Rel. Farmers Home Administration v. Ketelsen | 104 B.R. 242 | 15 |
| 1987 | Western Casualty & Surety Co. v. Waisanen | 653 F. Supp. 825 | 15 |
| 1987 | Ehrich v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. | 675 F. Supp. 559 | 14 |
| 1988 | United States v. Novak | 86 B.R. 625 | 12 |
| 1994 | Planned Parenthood, Sioux Falls Clinic v. Miller | 860 F. Supp. 1409 | 11 |
| 1989 | American Universal Insurance v. Whitewood Custom Treaters, Inc. | 707 F. Supp. 1140 | 11 |
| 1990 | Schuldies v. United States (In Re Schuldies) | 122 B.R. 100 | 10 |
| 1990 | Pearce v. Rapid Check Collection, Inc. | 738 F. Supp. 334 | 10 |
| 1993 | Sharps v. United States Forest Service | 823 F. Supp. 668 | 9 |
| 1992 | Tokley v. State Farm Insurance Companies | 782 F. Supp. 1375 | 9 |
| 1997 | Giedosh v. Little Wound School Board, Inc. | 995 F. Supp. 1052 | 8 |
| 1993 | Winters v. Northwestern National Casualty Co. | 838 F. Supp. 440 | 8 |
| 1992 | Nesseim v. Mail Handlers Benefit Plan | 792 F. Supp. 674 | 8 |
| 1990 | Baker v. Continental Western Insurance | 748 F. Supp. 716 | 8 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 63 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 Richard Howard Battey?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Richard Howard Battey to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota in 1985.
- Was Richard Howard Battey appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Richard Howard Battey was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Richard Howard Battey's confirmation vote?
- Richard Howard Battey was confirmed by voice vote on October 25, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Richard Howard Battey on?
- Richard Howard Battey was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of South 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.
31 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).