Who appointed Richard F. Cebull?

President George W. Bush appointed Richard F. Cebull to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in 2001.

Was Richard F. Cebull appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Richard F. Cebull was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Richard F. Cebull's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Richard F. Cebull 93–0 on July 20, 2001.

District of Montana / Appointed 2001 / Served to 2013

Richard F. Cebull

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Montana

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and confirmed by the Senate 93–0, Richard F. Cebull was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. He earned a law degree from University of Montana School of Law in 1969. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1944 · age 82
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2001
Confirmed: 93–0
Education: Montana State 1966 · University of Montana Law 1969
Succeeded: Jack D. Shanstrom
Succeeded by: Susan Pamela Watters

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2001	District of Montana succeeded Jack D. Shanstrom	G.W. Bush (R)	93–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 93–0 on July 20, 2001 · 107th Congress, Roll Call 246. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 93

47 D, 45 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 7

3 D, 4 R

Education

Montana State University	B.S.	1966
University of Montana School of Law	J.D.	1969

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Cebull was assigned 1,598 district-court cases (1986–2017). Median time from filing to termination: 272 days across 1,597 closed cases.

Contract20%

Prisoner & habeas18%

Personal-injury torts17%

Civil rights11%

Other federal statutes8%

Real property8%

Other18%

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 366 of Cebull’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 298 were affirmed, 48 reversed or vacated, and 20 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, Cebull authored 22 published opinions for the court (1999–2011). Most cited: Eott Energy Operating Ltd. Partnership v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London (12 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
1999	Eott Energy Operating Ltd. Partnership v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London	59 F. Supp. 2d 1072	12
2002	Charter v. United States Department of Agriculture	230 F. Supp. 2d 1121	10
2009	SHIPLET v. Veneman	620 F. Supp. 2d 1203	8
2005	Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers v. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service	359 F. Supp. 2d 1058	6
2008	United States v. Vardaro	575 F. Supp. 2d 1179	5
2008	CLOUD FOUNDATION, INC. v. Kempthorne	546 F. Supp. 2d 1003	4
2000	Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation v. Blaze Construction, Inc.	108 F. Supp. 2d 1122	4
2011	KORTLANDER v. Cornell	816 F. Supp. 2d 982	3
2010	Indreland v. Yellowstone County Board of Commissioners	693 F. Supp. 2d 1230	3
2009	Shumaker v. Astrue	657 F. Supp. 2d 1178	3
1999	Bloxham v. Mountain West Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance	43 F. Supp. 2d 1121	3
2011	KORTLANDER v. Bureau of Land Management	816 F. Supp. 2d 1001	2
2009	United States v. Stephens	670 F. Supp. 2d 1145	2
2000	Lozeau v. Lake County, Mont.	98 F. Supp. 2d 1157	2
2011	Cox v. Yellowstone County	795 F. Supp. 2d 1128	1

Showing the 15 most-cited of 22 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 F. Cebull?: President George W. Bush appointed Richard F. Cebull to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in 2001.
Was Richard F. Cebull appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Richard F. Cebull was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Richard F. Cebull's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Richard F. Cebull 93–0 on July 20, 2001.
Which court was Richard F. Cebull on?: Richard F. Cebull was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

11 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).