United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts:

• Eastern District of Arkansas
• Western District of Arkansas
• Northern District of Iowa
• Southern District of Iowa
• District of Minnesota
• Eastern District of Missouri
• Western District of Missouri
• District of Nebraska
• District of North Dakota
• District of South Dakota

The court is composed of 11 active judges and is based primarily at the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri, and secondarily at the Warren E. Burger United States Courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is one of 13 United States courts of appeals. In 1929, Congress passed a statute dividing the Eighth Circuit that placed Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas in the Eighth Circuit and created a Tenth Circuit that included Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Current composition of the court

since March 11, 2024Template:Dated maintenance category (articles):

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
55	Chief Judge		Des Moines, IA	1963	2003–present	2024–present	—
46	Circuit Judge		Minneapolis, MN	1940	1990–present	2003–2010	—
54	Circuit Judge		Little Rock, AR	1958	2002–present	2017–2024	—
56	Circuit Judge		Saint Louis, MO	1963	2004–present	—	—
57	Circuit Judge		Kansas City, MO	1950	2004–present	—	—
58	Circuit Judge		El Dorado, AR	1951	2006–present	—	—
59	Circuit Judge		Cedar Rapids, IA	1964	2013–present	—	—
60	Circuit Judge		Fargo, ND	1959	2017–present	—	—
61	Circuit Judge		Omaha, NE	1961	2018–present	—	—
62	Circuit Judge		Minneapolis, MN	1974	2018–present	—	—
63	Circuit Judge		Sioux Falls, SD	1974	2018–present	—	—
42	Senior Circuit Judge		inactive	1933	1983–2003	1998–1999	2003–present
43	Senior Circuit Judge		inactive	1934	1985–2018	1999–2002	2018–present
47	Senior Circuit Judge		inactive	1938	1991–2003	2002–2003	2003–present
48	Senior Circuit Judge		Little Rock, AR	1941	1992–2006	—	2006–present
53	Senior Circuit Judge		inactive	1948	2002–2013	—	2013–present

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior Judge's Duty Station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
3	Kansas City, MO	Duane Benton	Senior status	TBD

List of former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1		AR	1832–1915	1891–1903	—	—	/ Operation of law	retirement
2		MN	1845–1928	1892–1928	—	—		death
3		MO	1841–1905	1894–1905	—	—		death
4		WY	1859–1941	1903–1910	—	—		elevation to Supreme Court
5		KS	1857–1921	1903–1921	—	—		death
6		MO	1842–1916	1905–1916	—	—		death
7		SD	1853–1922	1911–1922	—	—		death
8		IA	1862–1922	1911–1922	—	—		death
9		MO	1875–1958	1916–1947	—	1947–1958		death
10		CO	1857–1941	1921–1929	—	—		reassignment to 10th Cir.
11		IA	1869–1933	1922–1933	—	—		death
12		MN	1861–1944	1925–1932	—	1932–1944		death
13		MO	1862–1944	1925–1933	—	1933–1944		death
14		OK	1864–1933	1928–1929	—	—		reassignment to 10th Cir.
15		SD	1867–1962	1929–1960	1948–1959	1960–1962		death
16		MN	1883–1964	1932–1958	—	1959–1964		death
17		NE	1873–1977	1933–1961	—	1961–1977		death
18		MO	1864–1938	1935	—	1935–1938		death
19		IA	1873–1962	1935–1954	—	1954–1962		death
20		NE	1895–1975	1940–1965	1959–1965	1965–1975		death
21		AR	1883–1953	1941–1953	—	—		death
22		MO	1898–1955	1947–1955	—	—		death
23		ND	1898–1980	1954–1968	1965–1968	1968–1980		death
24		IA	1900–1979	1954–1971	1968–1970	1971–1979		death
25		MO	1901–1973	1956–1957	—	—		elevation to Supreme Court
26		MO	1906–1980	1958–1973	1970–1973	1973–1980		death
27		MN	1908–1999	1959–1970	—	—		elevation to Supreme Court
28		MO	1898–1967	1961–1965	—	1965–1967		death
29		AR	1904–1981	1963–1974	1973–1974	1974–1981		death
30		MO	1910–2001	1965–1979	1974–1979	1979–2001		death
31		MN	1926–2007	1966–1992	1979–1992	1992–2007		death
32		MN	1918–2010	1966–1988	—	1988–2006		retirement
33		ND	1919–2016	1968–1985	—	1985–2016		death
34		NE	1922–2013	1970–1987	—	1987–2013		death
35		IA	1917–1982	1971–1982	—	1982–1982		death
36		MO	1924–2025	1973–1978	—	—		resignation
37		AR	1917–1997	1975–1982	—	1982–1997		death
38		MO	1919–2006	1978–2003	—	2003–2006		death
39		AR	1936–2004	1980–2001	1992–1998	2001–2004		death
40		MO	1925–2014	1982–1994	—	1994–2014		death
41	George Gardner Fagg	IA	1934–2015	1982–1999	—	1999–2015		death
44	Frank J. Magill	ND	1927–2013	1986–1997	—	1997–2013		death
45		NE	1930–2025	1987–2001	—	2001–2025		death
49		MN	1934–2018	1994–2016	—	2016–2018		death
50		ND	1934–1998	1998	—	—		death
51		ND	1937–2021	2000–2015	—	2015–2016		retirement
52		NE	1947–2023	2001–2017	2010–2017	2017–2023		death

Chief judges

Chief Judge
Gardner	1948–1959
Johnsen	1959–1965
Vogel	1965–1968
Van Oosterhout	1968–1970
Matthes	1970–1973
Mehaffy	1973–1974
Gibson	1974–1979
Lay	1979–1992
R. Arnold	1992–1998
Bowman II	1998–1999
Wollman	1999–2002
Hansen	2002–2003
Loken	2003–2010
Riley	2010–2017
L. Smith	2017–2024
Colloton	2024–present

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless the circuit justice (the Supreme Court justice responsible for the circuit) is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit 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, with seniority determined first by commission date, then by age. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. If no judge qualifies to be chief, the youngest judge over the age of 65 who has served on the court for at least one year shall act as chief until another judge qualifies. If no judge has served on the court for more than a year, the most senior judge shall act as chief. Judges can forfeit or resign their chief judgeship or acting chief judgeship while retaining their active status as a circuit judge.

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

The court has had thirteen seats for active judges. Two of these seats were reassigned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, leaving a eleven-seat court. The seats are numbered in the order in which they were initially filled. Judges who assume senior status enter a kind of retirement in which they remain on the bench but vacate their seats, thus allowing the U.S. President to appoint new judges to fill their seats.

Caldwell AR 1891–1903 Hook KS 1903–1921 Lewis CO 1921–1929

| class="col-break " | Template:Start U.S. judge succession inactive circuit Template:U.S. judge succession 4 note |- | W. Sanborn || MN || 1892–1928 |- | Cotteral || OK || 1928–1929 Template:U.S. judge succession 4 note

|}

| class="col-break " |

Seat 3
Established on July 23, 1894, by 28 Stat. 115
Thayer	MO	1894–1905
Adams	MO	1905–1916
Stone	MO	1916–1947
Collet	MO	1947–1955
Whittaker	MO	1956–1957
Matthes	MO	1958–1973
Webster	MO	1973–1978
McMillian	MO	1978–2003
Benton	MO	2004–present

| class="col-break " |

Seat 4
Established on January 31, 1903, by 32 Stat. 791
Van Devanter	WY	1903–1910
W. Smith	IA	1911–1922
Kenyon	IA	1922–1933
Faris	MO	1935
Thomas	IA	1936–1954
Van Oosterhout	IA	1954–1971
Stephenson	IA	1971–1982
Fagg	IA	1982–1999
Melloy	IA	2002–2013
J.L. Kelly	IA	2013–present

|}

Seat 5
Established on March 3, 1925, by 43 Stat. 1116
Booth	MN	1925–1932
J. Sanborn, Jr.	MN	1932–1959
Blackmun	MN	1959–1970
Ross	NE	1970–1987
Beam	NE	1987–2001
Riley	NE	2001–2017
Grasz	NE	2018–present

Seat 6
Established on March 3, 1925, by 43 Stat. 1116
Van Valkenburgh	MO	1925–1933
Woodrough	NE	1933–1961
Mehaffy	AR	1963–1974
Henley	AR	1975–1982
Bowman II	MO	1983–2003
Gruender	MO	2004–present

Seat 7
Established on February 28, 1929, by 45 Stat. 1346
Gardner	SD	1929–1960
Ridge	MO	1961–1965
F. Gibson	MO	1965–1979
J. Gibson	MO	1982–1994
Murphy	MN	1994–2016
Stras	MN	2018–present

Seat 8
Established on May 24, 1940, by 54 Stat. 219
Johnsen	NE	1940–1965
Lay	MN	1966–1992
M. Arnold	AR	1992–2006
Shepherd	AR	2006–present

Seat 9
Established on May 24, 1940, by 54 Stat. 219
Riddick	AR	1941–1953
Vogel	ND	1954–1968
Bright	ND	1968–1985
Magill	ND	1986–1997
J.D. Kelly	ND	1998
Bye	ND	2000–2015
Erickson	ND	2017–present

Seat 10
Established on March 18, 1966, by 80 Stat. 75
Heaney	MN	1966–1988
Loken	MN	1990–present

Seat 11
Established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629
R. Arnold	AR	1980–2001
L. Smith	AR	2002–present

Seat 12
Established on July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333
Wollman	SD	1985–2018
Kobes	SD	2018–present

Seat 13
Established on December 1, 1990, by 104 Stat. 5089
Hansen	IA	1991–2003
Colloton	IA	2003–present

See also

• Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts#Eighth Circuit
• List of current United States circuit judges

References

• • primary but incomplete source for the duty stations
• • secondary source for the duty stations
  • data is current to 2002
• • source for the state, lifetime, term of active judgeship, term of chief judgeship, term of senior judgeship, appointer, termination reason, and seat information

External links

• United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Recent opinions from FindLaw