United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (in case citations, M.D. Tenn.) is the federal trial court for most of Middle Tennessee. Based at the Estes Kefauver Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Nashville, it was created in 1839 when Congress added a third district to the state. Tennessee—along with Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan—is located within the area covered by United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and appeals are taken to that court (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

Template:As of the United States attorney is Henry C. Leventis.

The Middle District has three divisions. (1) The Columbia Division comprises the counties of Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, and Wayne. (2) The Northeastern Division comprises the counties of Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, and White. (3) The Nashville Division comprises the counties of Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Stewart, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, and Wilson.

History

The United States District Court for the District of Tennessee was established with one judgeship on January 31, 1797, by 1 Stat. 496. The judgeship was filled by President George Washington's appointment of John McNairy. Since Congress failed to assign the district to a circuit, the court had the jurisdiction of both a district court and a circuit court. Appeals from this one district court went directly to the United States Supreme Court.

On February 13, 1801, in the famous "Midnight Judges" Act of 1801, 2 Stat. 89, Congress abolished the U.S. district court in Tennessee, and expanded the number of circuits to six, provided for independent circuit court judgeships, and abolished the necessity of Supreme Court Justices riding the circuits. It was this legislation which created the grandfather of the present Sixth Circuit. The act provided for a "Sixth Circuit" comprising two districts in the State of Tennessee, one district in the State of Kentucky and one district, called the Ohio District, composed of the Ohio and Indiana territories (the latter including the present State of Michigan). The new Sixth Circuit Court was to be held at "Bairdstown" in the District of Kentucky, at Knoxville in the District of East Tennessee, at Nashville in the District of West Tennessee, and at Cincinnati in the District of Ohio. Unlike the other circuits which were provided with three circuit judges, the Sixth Circuit was to have only one circuit judge with district judges from Kentucky and Tennessee comprising the rest of the court. Any two judges constituted a quorum. New circuit judgeships were to be created as district judgeships in Kentucky and Tennessee became vacant.

The repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, 2 Stat. 132. The District was divided into the Eastern and Western Districts on April 29, 1802. On February 24, 1807, Congress again abolished the two districts and created the United States Circuit for the District of Tennessee. On March 3, 1837, Congress assigned the judicial district of Tennessee to the Eighth Circuit. On June 18, 1839, by 5 Stat. 313, Congress divided Tennessee into three districts, Eastern, Middle, and Western. Again, only one judgeship was allotted for all three districts. On July 15, 1862, Congress reassigned appellate jurisdiction to the Sixth Circuit. Finally, on June 14, 1878, Congress authorized a separate judgeship for the Western District of Tennessee, at which time President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed David M. Key as judge for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Tennessee. The first judge to serve only the Middle District of Tennessee was John J. Gore, appointed by Warren G. Harding.

Current judges

Template:As of:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
23	Chief Judge	William L. Campbell Jr.	Nashville	1969	2018–present	2024–present	—	Trump
19	District Judge	Aleta Arthur Trauger	Nashville	1945	1998–present	—	—	Clinton
22	District Judge	Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr.	Nashville	1956	2016–present	2017–2024	—	Obama
24	District Judge	Eli J. Richardson	Nashville	1967	2018–present	—	—	Trump

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Template:Sortname	TN	1800–1853	1839–1853	—	—	Jackson/Operation of law	death
2	Template:Sortname	TN	1806–1882	1853–1862	—	—	Template:Sortname	impeachment and conviction
3	Template:Sortname	TN	1810–1880	1862–1880	—	—	Template:Sortname	death
4	Template:Sortname	TN	1824–1900	1880–1895	—	—	Template:Sortname	retirement
5	Template:Sortname	TN	1847–1908	1895–1908	—	—	Template:Sortname	death
6	Template:Sortname	TN	1865–1930	1908–1923	—	—	Template:Sortname	elevation to Supreme Court
7	Template:Sortname	TN	1878–1939	1923–1939	—	—	Template:Sortname	death
8	Template:Sortname	TN	1872–1952	1923–1928	—	—	Template:Sortname	elevation to 6th Cir.
9	Template:Sortname	TN	1886–1967	1939–1940	—	—	Template:Sortname	seat abolished
10	Template:Sortname	TN	1899–1957	1939–1957	1954–1957	—	Template:Sortname	death
11	Template:Sortname	TN	1908–1976	1955–1970	1961–1970	—	Template:Sortname	elevation to 6th Cir.
12	Template:Sortname	TN	1908–1978	1961–1977	1970–1977	1977–1978	Template:Sortname	death
13	Template:Sortname	TN	1916–1998	1970–1984	1977–1984	1984–1998	Template:Sortname	death
14	Template:Sortname	TN	1930–2020	1978–1995	1984–1991	1995–2011	Template:Sortname	retirement
15	Template:Sortname	TN	1933–2019	1980–1998	1991–1998	1998–2019	Template:Sortname	death
16	Template:Sortname	TN	1932–2018	1984–1999	—	1999–2018	Template:Sortname	death
17	Template:Sortname	TN	1941–present	1992–2007	1998–2005	2007–2010	Template:Sortname	retirement
18	Template:Sortname	TN	1956–2021	1995–2016	2005–2012	2016–2021	Template:Sortname	death
20	Template:Sortname	TN	1949–present	1999–2014	2012–2014	2014–2017	Template:Sortname	retirement
21	Template:Sortname	TN	1963–present	2011–2017	2014–2017	—	Template:Sortname	resignation

Succession of seats

Brown 1839–1853 Humphreys 1853–1862 Trigg 1862–1880 Key 1880–1895 Clark 1895–1908 Sanford 1908–1923 Hicks 1923–1928

| class="col-break " | Template:U.S. judge succession inactive Template:U.S. judge succession 3 note |- | Gore || 1923–1939 |- | Davies || 1939–1957 Template:U.S. judge succession 3 note

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| class="col-break " | Template:U.S. judge succession inactive Template:U.S. judge succession 3 note |- | Darr || 1939–1940 Template:U.S. judge succession 3 note

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Seat 4
Seat established on February 10, 1954 by 68 Stat. 8, 10 (temporary)
Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 2 on January 7, 1957
Miller	1955–1970
Morton	1970–1984
Higgins	1984–1999
Haynes, Jr.	1999–2014
Crenshaw, Jr.	2016–present

| class="col-break " |

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Seat 5
Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80
Gray, Jr.	1962–1977
Wiseman, Jr.	1978–1995
T. Campbell	1995–2016
Richardson	2018–present

Seat 6
Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
Nixon	1980–1998
Trauger	1998–present

Seat 7
Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089
Echols	1992–2007
Sharp	2011–2017
W. Campbell, Jr.	2018–present

See also

• Courts of Tennessee
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Tennessee

External links

• United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Official Website