United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

Eastern District of North Carolina
Fourth Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 4
Judges: 4
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Richard Myers II
Active judges: Terrence Boyle, James Dever, Louise Flanagan, Richard Myers II Senior judges: Earl Britt, Malcolm Howard

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina is one of 94 United States district courts. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit based in downtown Richmond, Virginia, at the Lewis F. Powell Federal Courthouse.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, out of the court's four judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Terrence Boyle	Ronald Reagan (R)	May 3, 1984 -	Brown University, 1967	American University, Washington College of Law, 1970
Louise Flanagan	George W. Bush (R)	July 18, 2003 -	Wake Forest University, 1984	University of Virginia School of Law, 1988
James Dever	George W. Bush (R)	May 2, 2005 -	University of Notre Dame, 1984	Duke University School of Law, 1987
Richard Myers II	Donald Trump (R)	December 10, 2019 -	University of North Carolina, Wilmington, 1989	University of North Carolina School of Law, 1998

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 0
• Republican appointed: 4

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Earl Britt	Jimmy Carter (D)	December 7, 1997 -	Wake Forest College, 1956	Wake Forest College School of Law, 1958
Malcolm Howard	Ronald Reagan (R)	December 31, 2005 -	U.S. Military Academy, 1962	Wake Forest University School of Law, 1970

Senior judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 1
• Republican appointed: 1

Magistrate judges

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
James Gates		January 27, 2006 -
Robert Jones Jr.		October 12, 2007 -
Kimberly A. Swank		September 10, 2013 -	East Carolina University	Campbell University
Robert Numbers II		December 8, 2014 -	Wake Forest University, 2002	University of Notre Dame, 2005
Brian Meyers	U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina	October 16, 2020 -

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.

On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.

Terrence Boyle - (2018 - 2021) James Dever - (2011 - 2018) Louise Flanagan - (2004 - 2011) Terrence Boyle - (1997 - 2004) James Fox - (1990 - 1997) Earl Britt - (1983 - 1990) Franklin Dupree - (1979 - 1983) John Larkins - (1975 - 1979) Algernon Butler - (1961 - 1975)

Former judges

For information about judges of the Eastern District of North Carolina, see former federal judges of the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Eastern District of North Carolina (click for larger map)

The Eastern District of North Carolina has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

It has three staffed offices and holds court in six cities: Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, and Wilmington. Its main office is in Raleigh.

There are four court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Edgecombe, Greene, Halifax, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Pamlico, and Pitt counties.

The Northern Division, covering Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties.

The Southern Division, covering Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Robeson, and Sampson counties.

The Western Division, covering Cumberland, Franklin, Granville, Harnett, Johnston, Nash, Vance, Wake, Wayne, Warren, and Wilson counties.

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2024. Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

Caseload statistics explanation
Term	Explanation
Cases filed and terminated	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated or decided by the court in a calendar year. The chart below reflects the table columns Cases filed and Cases terminated.
Average time from filing to disposition	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to date of disposition (acquittal, sentencing, dismissal, etc.). The chart below reflects the table columns Median time (Criminal) and Median time (Civil).
Starting case load	The number of cases pending from the previous calendar year.
Cases filed	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated in a calendar year.
Cases terminated	The total number of civil and criminal lawsuits decided by the court in a calendar year.
Remaining cases	The number of civil and criminal cases pending at the end of a given year.
Median time (Criminal)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition. In criminal cases, the date of disposition occurs on the day of sentencing or acquittal/dismissal.
Median time (Civil)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition.
Three-year civil cases	The number and percent of civil cases that were filed more than three years before the end of the given calendar year.
Vacant posts	The number of months during the year an authorized judgeship was vacant.
Trial/Post	The number of trials completed divided by the number of authorized judgeships on the court. Trials include evidentiary trials, hearings on temporary restraining orders, and preliminary injunctions.
Source: United States Courts, "Explanation of the Judicial Caseload Profiles for United States District Courts," accessed September 25, 2018

United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina caseload stats, 2010-2023
Year	Cases Filed	Cases Terminated	Cases Pending	Number of Judgeships	Vacant Judgeship Months	Average Total Filings per Judgeship	Trials Completed per Judgeship	Median time from filing to disposition, criminal	Median time from filing to disposition, civil	Three-year civil cases (#)	Three-year civil cases (%)
2010	2,602	2,233	2,797	4	12	651	26	8	8	169	9
2011	2,640	2,494	2,699	4	12	660	35	9	9	251	12
2012	3,068	2,901	3,061	4	12	767	62	9	9	273	13
2013	2,881	3,010	2,950	4	12	720	44	10	8	315	14
2014	2,794	2,848	2,870	4	12	699	40	9	10	368	16
2015	2,706	2,807	2,693	4	12	677	35	8	8	309	16
2016	3,217	2,562	3,100	4	12	804	37	9	9	52	2
2017	2,603	2,726	2,986	4	12	651	39	10	10	75	4
2018	2,958	2,721	3,215	4	12	740	36	9	10	112	5
2019	3,042	2,997	3,207	4	12	761	39	10	9	277	14
2020	3,124	2,537	3,804	4	0	781	29	12	10	326	14
2021	2,702	2,965	3,518	4	0	676	42	14	11	369	17
2022	2,528	2,734	3,262	4	0	632	42	17	12	354	18
2023	4,306	3,004	4,350	4	0	1,077	35	15	8	195	6
Average	2,941	2,753	3,179	4	9	735	39	11	9	246	11

History

The District of North Carolina was established by Congress on June 4, 1790, with one post to cover the entire state. On June 4, 1872, Congress divided the district into the Eastern District of North Carolina and the Western District of North Carolina, with one post for each district. On March 2, 1927, Congress split the Middle District of North Carolina off from the existing districts. Over time, Congress added three posts to the Eastern District of North Carolina to reach the current total of four posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Western District of North Carolina:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
June 4, 1790	1 Stat. 126	1 (Whole state)
June 4, 1872	17 Stat. 215	1
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	2
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	3 (1 Temporary)
1975	Post expired	2
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	3
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	4(1 Temporary)
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	4

Noteworthy cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions of the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Lawsuit against North Carolina ballot selfie laws (2024)

On August 22, 2024, Susan Hogarth (I) filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections for the current law that bans ballot selfies. After voting in March 2024, Hogarth posted a photo of herself with her completed ballot to social media. Shortly after, she received a letter from the Board of Elections informing her that it was a class 1 misdemeanor in North Carolina to do so and requesting she take the photo down or risk facing prosecution.

Hogarth's argument is that preventing ballot selfies is an infringement on First Amendment rights, while the opposing side argues that it could be used in vote-buying schemes or voter intimidation. Arguments in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina are expected to run through December 2024.

Federal courthouse

There are six federal courthouses that serve the Eastern District of North Carolina. These courthouses are located in the following cities: Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, and Wilmington.

About United States District Courts

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Bill Clinton had the most district court appointments with 169.

Judges by district

See also: Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each district and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies in a district and how many pending nominations for that district are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line, and you can navigate through the pages by clicking the arrows at the top of the table. It is updated every Monday.

Judicial selection

The district courts are served by Article III federal judges who are appointed for life during "good behavior." They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States makes the appointments, which must then be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.

Step	A Candidacy Proceeds	A Candidacy Halts
1. Recommendation made by Congress Member to the President	President Nominates to Senate Judiciary Committee	President Declines Nomination
2. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews Candidate	Sends candidate to Senate for confirmation	Returns candidate to President, who may re-nominate to Committee
3. Senate votes on candidate confirmation	Candidate becomes federal judge	Candidate does not receive judgeship

Magistrate judges

The district courts are also served by magistrate judges. Congress created the judicial office of federal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed to magistrate judge. The chief judge of each district appoints one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
• District of Maryland
• Middle District of North Carolina
• Western District of North Carolina
• District of South Carolina
• Eastern District of Virginia
• Western District of Virginia
• Northern District of West Virginia
• Southern District of West Virginia

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Official Website
• Judges of the Eastern District of North Carolina
• Opinions of the Eastern District of North Carolina
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina