United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
(W.D. Ark.)
Location	Judge Isaac C. Parker Federal Building (Fort Smith) More locations El Dorado; John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building (Fayetteville); J. Smith Henley Federal Building (Harrison); Federal Building–U.S. Post Office and Court House (Hot Springs); United States Post Office and Courthouse (Texarkana);
Appeals to	Eighth Circuit
Established	March 3, 1851
Judges	3
Chief Judge	Susan O. Hickey
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	David Clay Fowlkes
U.S. Marshal	vacant
	www.arwd.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (in case citations, W.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was established on March 3, 1851, with the division of the preceding United States District Court for the District of Arkansas into an Eastern and Western district.^[1]

The U.S. Courthouse & Post Office in Texarkana is shared with the Eastern District of Texas, making it the sole federal courthouse located in two states and a location of two federal districts.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of November 17, 2021^[update], the current United States attorney is David Clay Fowlkes.

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas is one of two federal judicial districts in Arkansas.^[2] Court for the District is held at El Dorado, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Harrison, Hot Springs, and Texarkana.

El Dorado Division comprises the following counties: Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Columbia, Ouachita, and Union.

Fayetteville Division comprises the following counties: Benton, Madison, and Washington.

Fort Smith Division comprises the following counties: Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Polk, Scott, and Sebastian.

Harrison Division comprises the following counties: Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton, and Searcy.

Hot Springs Division comprises the following counties: Clark, Garland, Hot Spring, Montgomery, and Pike.

Texarkana Division comprises the following counties: Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, and Sevier.

Current judges

As of November 10, 2021^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Active	Chief	Senior	Appointed by
24	Chief Judge	Susan O. Hickey	El Dorado	1955	2011–present	2019–present	—	Obama
25	District Judge	Timothy L. Brooks	Fayetteville	1964	2014–present	—	—	Obama
26	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Senior Judge	Jimm Larry Hendren	inactive	1940	1992–2012	1997–2012	2012–present	G.H.W. Bush
22	Senior Judge	Robert T. Dawson	Fort Smith	1938	1998–2009	—	2009–present	Clinton
23	Senior Judge	Paul K. Holmes III	Fort Smith	1951	2011–2021	2012–2019	2021–present	Obama

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
2	Fort Smith	Paul K. Holmes III	Senior status	November 10, 2021	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Daniel Ringo	AR	1803–1873	1851–1861^{[Note 1]}^{[Note 2]}	—	—	Taylor/Operation of law	resignation
2	Henry Clay Caldwell	AR	1832–1915	1864–1871^{[Note 2]}	—	—	Lincoln	seat abolished
3	William Story	AR	1843–1921	1871–1874	—	—	Grant	resignation
4	Isaac C. Parker	AR	1838–1896	1875–1896	—	—	Grant	death
5	John Henry Rogers	AR	1845–1911	1896–1911^{[Note 3]}	—	—	Cleveland	death
6	Frank A. Youmans	AR	1860–1932	1911–1932	—	—	Taft	death
7	Heartsill Ragon	AR	1885–1940	1933–1940	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
8	Harry Jacob Lemley	AR	1883–1965	1939–1958^{[Note 2]}	1948–1958	1958–1965	F. Roosevelt	death
9	John E. Miller	AR	1888–1981	1941–1967	1958–1967	1967–1981	F. Roosevelt	death
10	J. Smith Henley	AR	1917–1997	1959–1975^{[Note 2]}	—	—	Eisenhower	elevation to 8th Cir.
11	Oren Harris	AR	1903–1997	1965–1976^{[Note 2]}	1967–1973	1976–1997	L. Johnson	death
12	Paul X. Williams	AR	1908–1994	1967–1981	1973–1981	1981–1994	L. Johnson	death
13	Terry Shell	AR	1922–1978	1975–1978	—	—	Ford	death
14	Elsijane Trimble Roy	AR	1916–2007	1977–1989^{[Note 2]}	—	1989–1990^{[Note 4]}	Carter	seat abolished
15	Richard S. Arnold	AR	1936–2004	1978–1980^{[Note 2]}	—	—	Carter	elevation to 8th Cir.
16	George Howard Jr.	AR	1924–2007	1980–1990^{[Note 5]}	—	—	Carter	seat abolished
17	Hugh Franklin Waters	AR	1932–2002	1981–1997	1981–1997	1997–2002	Reagan	death
18	Morris S. Arnold	AR	1941–present	1985–1992	—	—	Reagan	elevation to 8th Cir.
19	Susan Webber Wright	AR	1948–present	1990–1990^{[Note 6]}	—	—	G.H.W. Bush	seat abolished
21	Harry F. Barnes	AR	1932–2019	1993–2008	—	2008–2019	Clinton	death

^ Reassigned from the District of Arkansas.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas
^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 8, 1896, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 1896, and received commission the same day
^ From 1989 to 1990, Judge Roy served as a Senior Judge of the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
^ From 1980 to 1990, Judge Howard was jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.
^ From 1990 to 1990, Judge Wright was jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas.

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

Seat 1
Seat reassigned from District of Arkansas on March 3, 1851, by 9 Stat. 594 (concurrent with Eastern District)
Ringo	1851–1861
Caldwell	1864–1871
Seat reassigned solely to the Eastern District on March 3, 1871, by 16 Stat. 471

Seat 2
Seat established on March 3, 1871, by 16 Stat. 471
Story	1871–1874
Parker	1875–1896
Rogers	1896–1911
Youmans	1911–1932
Ragon	1933–1940
Miller	1941–1967
Williams	1967–1981
Waters	1981–1997
Dawson	1998–2009
Holmes III	2011–2021
vacant	2021–present

Seat 3
Seat established on May 31, 1938, by 52 Stat. 584 (concurrent with Eastern District)
Lemley	1939–1958
Henley	1959–1975
Shell	1975–1978
R. Arnold	1978–1980
Howard Jr.	1980–1990
Seat reassigned solely to Eastern District on December 1, 1990, by 104 Stat. 5089

Seat 4
Seat established on May 19, 1961, by 75 Stat. 80 (concurrent with Eastern District)
Harris	1965–1976
Roy	1977–1989
Wright	1990
Seat reassigned solely to Eastern District on December 1, 1990, by 104 Stat. 5089

Seat 5
Seat established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333 (temporary)
Seat made permanent on December 1, 1990, by 104 Stat. 5089
M. Arnold	1985–1992
Barnes	1993–2008
Hickey	2011–present