What are the top five?

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (54), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (54), U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (52), U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (50) and U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (49).

Records & Rankings

The courts with the longest-serving sitting judge

Which federal court has the longest-serving sitting judge?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has the longest-serving sitting judge of any federal court: Levin Hicks Campbell, on the bench roughly 54 years.

Federal courts ranked by the tenure of their longest-serving sitting judge, measured from that judge’s first commission to this court.

#	Name	Detail	Years
1	U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit	Levin Hicks Campbell, since 1972	54
2	U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit	John Clifford Wallace, since 1972	54
3	U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota	Donald Douglas Alsop, since 1974	52
4	U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York	Charles Sherman Haight Jr., since 1976	50
5	U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado	John L. Kane Jr., since 1977	49
6	U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri	Edward Louis Filippine, since 1977	49
7	U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida	Jose Alejandro Gonzalez Jr., since 1978	48
8	U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit	Carolyn Dineen King, since 1979	47
9	U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit	Amalya Lyle Kearse, since 1979	47
10	U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit	Stephanie Kulp Seymour, since 1979	47
11	U.S. District Court for the Central District of California	Terry J. Hatter Jr., since 1979	47
12	U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey	Anne Elise Thompson, since 1979	47
13	U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky	William Odis Bertelsman, since 1979	47
14	U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma	Frank Howell Seay, since 1979	47
15	U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia	Orinda Dale Evans, since 1979	47
16	U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois	Marvin E. Aspen, since 1979	47
17	U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia	Dudley Hollingsworth Bowen Jr., since 1979	47
18	U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri	Howard Frederic Sachs, since 1979	47
19	U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin	Barbara Brandriff Crabb, since 1979	47
20	U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit	Harry Thomas Edwards, since 1980	46
21	U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina	William Earl Britt, since 1980	46
22	U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama	Myron Herbert Thompson, since 1980	46
23	U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California	Thelton Eugene Henderson, since 1980	46
24	U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio	Walter Herbert Rice, since 1980	46
25	U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington	Barbara Jacobs Rothstein, since 1980	46

Questions

Which federal court has the longest-serving sitting judge?: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has the longest-serving sitting judge of any federal court: Levin Hicks Campbell, on the bench roughly 54 years.
What are the top five?: U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (54), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (54), U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (52), U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (50) and U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (49).
How is this list ranked?: Federal courts ranked by the tenure of their longest-serving sitting judge, measured from that judge’s first commission to this court.

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Computed from the FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-09-21. Verify against the primary source before relying.