United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia

Middle District of Georgia
Eleventh Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 4
Judges: 4
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Leslie Abrams Gardner
Active judges: Leslie Abrams Gardner, Clay Land, Tilman E. Self, Marc Thomas Treadwell Senior judges: C. Ashley Royal, Willie Sands

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of courthouses in Macon, Albany, Athens, Columbus, and Valdosta. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit based in downtown Atlanta at the Elbert P. Tuttle Federal Courthouse.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 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
Clay Land	George W. Bush (R)	December 21, 2001 -	University of Georgia, 1982	University of Georgia Law, 1985
Marc Thomas Treadwell	Barack Obama (D)	June 22, 2010 -	Valdosta State University, 1978	Mercer University Law, 1981
Leslie Abrams Gardner	Barack Obama (D)	November 20, 2014 -	Brown University, 1997	Yale Law, 2002
Tilman E. Self	Donald Trump (R)	March 7, 2018 -	The Military College of South Carolina, 1990	University of Georgia School of Law, 1997

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: 2
• Republican appointed: 2

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Willie Sands	Bill Clinton (D)	April 12, 2014 -	Mercer University, 1971	Mercer University Law, 1974
C. Ashley Royal	George W. Bush (R)	September 1, 2016 -	University of Georgia, 1971	University of Georgia Law, 1974

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
Thomas Langstaff		April 30, 2010 -	Georgia Institute of Technology, 1982	University of Georgia, 1986
M. Stephen Hyles		July 1, 2010 -	University of Georgia, 1977	University of Georgia, 1979
Charles Weigle		October 19, 2010 -	Vanderbilt University, 1992	University of Virginia, 1996

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.

Marc Thomas Treadwell - (2020-2024) Clay Land - (2014-2020) Ashley Royal - (2008 - 2014) Hugh Lawson - (2006 - 2008) Willie Sands - (2001-2006) Duross Fitzpatrick - (1995 - 2001) Wilbur Owens - (1980 - 1995) James Robert Elliott - (1972 - 1980) William Bootle - (1961 - 1972) Thomas Davis - (1949 - 1961)

Former judges

For more information about the judges of the Middle District of Georgia, see former federal judges of the Middle District of Georgia.

Jurisdiction

Middle District of Georgia counties (click for larger map)

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

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

The Albany Division, covering Baker, Ben Hill, Calhoun, Crisp, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Schley, Seminole, Sumter, Terrell, Turner, Webster, and Worth counties.

The Athens Division, covering Clarke, Decatur, Elbert, Franklin, Greene, Hart, Madison, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton counties.

The Columbus Division, covering Chattahoochee, Clay, Harris, Marion, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Stewart, Talbot, and Taylor counties.

The Macon Division, covering Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Crawford, Dooly, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Macon, Monroe, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Twiggs, Upson, Washington, Wilcox, and Wilkinson counties.

The Valdosta Division, covering Berrien, Brooks, Clinch, Colquitt, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Thomas, and Tift 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 Middle District of Georgia 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	1,505	1,654	1,272	4	6	376	16	10	11	62	6
2011	1,697	1,714	1,233	4	0	425	13	9	9	34	3
2012	1,893	1,759	1,550	4	0	473	15	10	9	28	2
2013	2,036	1,797	1,828	4	0	509	15	9	10	27	2
2014	1,768	1,896	1,703	4	7	442	16	9	12	29	2
2015	1,710	1,648	1,771	4	0	428	19	9	10	64	5
2016	2,052	1,953	1,897	4	4	513	13	13	14	35	3
2017	1,879	2,070	1,720	4	12	470	14	12	10	38	3
2018	1,876	1,946	1,674	4	2	469	15	10	9	56	5
2019	1,860	1,841	1,723	4	0	465	16	10	7	43	4
2020	1,941	1,664	2,006	4	0	485	8	13	7	67	5
2021	1,687	1,910	1,789	4	0	422	16	15	9	72	7
2022	1,663	1,734	1,714	4	0	416	15	15	8	89	9
2023	1,616	1,755	1,593	4	0	404	16	15	9	87	9
Average	1,799	1,810	1,677	4	2	450	15	11	10	52	5

History

The District of Georgia was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789 and established the entire state as one district with one post. On August 11, 1848, Congress reorganized the District of Georgia into the Northern District of Georgia and the Southern District of Georgia with one post split between the two districts. The Middle District of Georgia was added on May 28, 1926, and was established with one post. Since then, three additional posts have been added to the court for a total of four posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Middle District of Georgia:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
May 28, 1926	44 Stat. 670	1
March 29, 1949	63 Stat. 16	2
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	3
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	4

Noteworthy cases

You can find a list of opinions from the Middle District of Georgia here.

• Cases regarding President Barack Obama's birth certificate (2009)      Judge(s):Clay Land (Cook v. Good et al, 4:2009cv00082)	Click for summary→
On July 16, 2009, Judge Clay Land dismissed the lawsuit of Major Stefan Cook. Cook filed a lawsuit to demand proof of President Barack Obama’s (D) American citizenship before accepting orders to be deployed to Afghanistan. Land sided with the Department of Defense in holding that Cook’s suit was moot, and therefore beyond the subject matter jurisdiction of the court, because his deployment orders were revoked and "the relief he [was] seeking [had] been granted." On September 16, 2009, Judge Land dismissed a similar lawsuit filed by another reservist who had retained the same attorney as Cook. In Connie Rhodes, M.D. v. Col. Thomas MacDonald, et al., the plaintiff made similar arguments Cook had. Land denied a motion for a temporary restraining order sought by Rhodes and dismissed the case with a warning to her attorney that the filing of any similar actions would "subject counsel to sanctions" under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In a footnote to his opinion, the judge remarked (internal citations omitted): “ The Court observes that the President defeated seven opponents in a grueling campaign for his party’s nomination that lasted more than eighteen months and cost those opponents well over $300 million. Then the President faced a formidable opponent in the general election who received $84 million to conduct his general election campaign against the President. It would appear that ample opportunity existed for discovery of evidence that would support any contention that the President was not eligible for the office he sought. Furthermore, Congress is apparently satisfied that the President is qualified to serve. Congress has not instituted impeachment proceedings, and in fact, the House of Representatives in a broad bipartisan manner has rejected the suggestion that the President is not eligible for office. See H.R. Res. 593, 111th Cong. (2009) (commemorating, by vote of 378-0, the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood and stating, “the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961”). ”

• Mark Shelnutt case (2009)      Judge(s):Clay Land (United States of America v. Shelnutt, 4:09-cr-00014-CDL)	Click for summary→
Judge Clay Land presided in the case of Georgia attorney Mark Shelnutt. Shelnutt faced charges of aiding and abetting a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, money laundering, witness tampering, and attempted bribery. The charges came from a complaint that alleged Shelnutt had a working relationship with convicted drug dealer and former client Torrance Hill. On July 14, 2009, Judge Land dismissed motions from the Shelnutt defense team to dismiss all but two charges against him. Attorneys for Shelnutt requested the Judge to dismiss the charges based on a claim that a U.S. attorney and FBI agent misled Shelnutt during an interrogation. "The defendant's arguments relate to deficiency of evidence and that will be heard at trial," Land said after denying the motion.

Federal courthouse

Five separate courthouses serve the Middle District of Georgia:

• William A. Bootle Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse in Macon
• C.B. King United States Courthouse in Albany
• U.S. District Courthouse in Athens
• U.S. Post Office & Court House in Columbus
• U.S. District Courthouse in Valdosta

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 Eleventh Circuit
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Official website of the Middle District of Georgia
• Opinions of the Middle District of Georgia
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia