United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

Southern District of Mississippi
	Fifth Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 6
	Judges: 6
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Halil Ozerden
	Active judges: Kristi Haskins Johnson, Daniel Jordan, Taylor McNeel, Halil Ozerden, Carlton W. Reeves, Henry Wingate; Senior judges:; David Bramlette, Louis Guirola, Tom Lee, Keith Starrett

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi 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 Fifth Circuit based in downtown New Orleans at the John Minor Wisdom Federal Courthouse.

The Southern District of Mississippi has six authorized judicial posts. The chief judge of the court is Daniel Jordan, who was appointed by George W. Bush (R). Two judges on the court were appointed by Donald Trump (R).

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, out of the court's six judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Henry Wingate	Ronald Reagan (R)	October 17, 1985 -	Grinnell College, 1969	Yale Law School, 1972
Daniel Jordan	George W. Bush (R)	August 7, 2006 -	University of Mississippi, 1987	University of Virginia School of Law, 1993
Halil Ozerden	George W. Bush (R)	May 1, 2007 -	Georgetown University, 1989	Stanford Law School, 1998
Carlton W. Reeves	Barack Obama (D)	December 20, 2010 -	Jackson State University, 1986	University of Virginia School of Law, 1989
Kristi Haskins Johnson	Donald Trump (R)	December 1, 2020 -	University of Mississippi, 2003	Mississippi College School of Law, 2008
Taylor McNeel	Donald Trump (R)	December 14, 2020 -	University of Mississippi, 2005	University of Mississippi School of Law, 2008

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

Below is a display of 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: 1
Republican appointed: 5

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
David Bramlette	George H.W. Bush (R)	March 20, 2006 -	Princeton University, 1962	University of Mississippi Law Center, 1965
Tom Lee	Ronald Reagan (R)	April 8, 2006 -	Mississippi College, 1963	University of Mississippi Law Center, 1965
Louis Guirola	George W. Bush (R)	March 23, 2018 -	William Carey College, 1973	University of Mississippi Law Center, 1979
Keith Starrett	George W. Bush (R)	April 30, 2019 -	Mississippi State University, 1972	University of Mississippi Law Center, 1974

Senior judges by appointing political party

Below is a display of 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: 0
Republican appointed: 4

Magistrate judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Michael Parker	United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi	May 26, 2006 -	Mississippi College, 1983	Mississippi College of Law, 1986
Keith Ball	United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi	January 29, 2010 -	University of Mississippi, 1987	University of Mississippi Law Center, 1990
Robert P. Myers Jr.	United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi	August 2, 2020 -	Mississippi State University, 1988	University of Mississippi School of Law, 1991
LaKeysha Greer Isaac	United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi	January 5, 2021 -	Millsaps College, 1997	Emory University School of Law, 2000

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.^[1]

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.^[2]^[3]^[4]

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.^[2]^[3]^[4]

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.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

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.^[5]

Daniel Jordan - (2017-2024)
Louis Guirola - (2010 - 2017)
Henry Wingate - (2003 - 2010)
Tom Lee - (1996 - 2003)
William Barbour - (1989 - 1996)
Walter Nixon - (1982 - 1989)
Dan Russell - (1971 - 1982)
William Cox - (1962 - 1971)
Sidney Mize - (1961 - 1962)

Former judges

For more information about the judges of the Southern District of Mississippi, see former federal judges of the Southern District of Mississippi.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Southern District of Mississippi (click for larger map)

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

The geographic jurisdiction of the Southern District of Mississippi consists of the following counties in the southern part of the state of Mississippi.

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 Southern District of Mississippi 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	2,740	2,951	2,374	6	12	457	25	8	9	93	5
2011	2,413	2,470	2,229	6	0	403	23	8	9	91	4
2012	2,550	2,519	2,332	6	0	425	25	7	10	81	4
2013	2,514	3,082	1,763	6	0	419	25	8	10	79	5
2014	2,294	2,312	2,121	6	0	382	22	8	11	87	5
2015	2,036	2,206	1,937	6	0	339	16	9	10	87	5
2016	2,264	2,142	2,048	6	0	377	20	9	11	70	4
2017	2,346	2,386	2,001	6	0	391	21	8	9	52	3
2018	2,327	2,191	2,130	6	9	388	21	8	9	57	4
2019	2,954	2,279	2,784	6	20	492	27	8	9	59	3
2020	2,064	2,597	2,233	6	20	344	15	10	7	62	4
2021	2,009	2,107	2,123	6	0	335	24	12	12	85	5
2022	1,919	2,166	1,881	6	0	320	35	12	12	82	6
2023	4,191	1,974	4,088	6	0	699	613	11	10	85	2
Average	2,473	2,384	2,289	6	4	412	65	9	10	76	4

History

Federal courts in Mississippi were established by Congress on April 3, 1818 with one post to cover the entire state. On June 18, 1838, Congress divided the district into the Northern District of Mississippi and the Southern District of Mississippi. Over time, five additional judicial posts were added to the Southern District for the current total of six.^[6]

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Southern District of Mississippi:^[6]

Year	Statute	Total Seats
April 3, 1818	3 Stat. 413	1 (Whole State)
June 18, 1838	5 Stat. 247	1 (Shared)
March 1, 1929	45 Stat. 1422	1
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	2
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	3
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	5
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	6

Federal courthouse

The Southern District of Mississippi has three federal courthouses.

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.^[7]^[8]

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.^[9]

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.^[8]

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.^[10]