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United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

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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

TheUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi is one of 94United States district courts. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit based in downtownNew Orleans at theJohn Minor Wisdom Federal Courthouse.

The Southern District of Mississippi has six authorized judicial posts. The chief judge of the court isDaniel Jordan, who was appointed byGeorge W. Bush (R). Two judges on the court were appointed byDonald Trump (R).

Vacancies

See also:Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on theUnited 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.

Democratic 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.

Democratic 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
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 ofchief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on theUnited 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 theUnited States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by thepresident 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, seeformer 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 hasoriginal 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 followingcounties in the southern part of the state ofMississippi.

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2025. 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 columnsCases filed andCases 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 columnsMedian time (Criminal) andMedian 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, 2010-2024
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
2024	2,066	2,021	4,137	6	0	344	32	11	9	9	2
Average	2,446	2,360	2,412	6	4	408	24	9	10	72	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 theNorthern District of Mississippi and theSouthern 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

TheUnited States district courts are the generaltrial courts of theUnited States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Bothcivil andcriminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is aUnited States bankruptcy court and a number ofbankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Eachfederal 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 theseterritorial courts do not enjoy the protections ofArticle III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are677 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 February 1 of the second year of presidents' second term in office. At this point in the term, President Obama had the most district court appointments with 32.

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 theUnited 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 byArticle 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 withArticle 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 toSenate 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 offederal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed tomagistrate 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]

External links

Footnotes

v • e U.S. Circuit Courts andDistrict Courts

First Circuit	District of Maine •District of Massachusetts •District of New Hampshire •District of Puerto Rico •District of Rhode Island

Second Circuit	District of Connecticut •Eastern District of New York •Northern District of New York •Southern District of New York •Western District of New York •District of Vermont

Third Circuit	District of Delaware •District of New Jersey •Eastern District of Pennsylvania •Middle District of Pennsylvania •Western District of Pennsylvania

Fourth Circuit	District of Maryland •Eastern District of North Carolina •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

Fifth Circuit	Eastern District of Louisiana •Middle District of Louisiana •Western District of Louisiana •Northern District of Mississippi •Southern District of Mississippi •Eastern District of Texas •Northern District of Texas •Southern District of Texas •Western District of Texas

Sixth Circuit	Eastern District of Kentucky •Western District of Kentucky •Eastern District of Michigan •Western District of Michigan •Northern District of Ohio •Southern District of Ohio •Eastern District of Tennessee •Middle District of Tennessee •Western District of Tennessee

Seventh Circuit	Central District of Illinois •Northern District of Illinois •Southern District of Illinois •Northern District of Indiana •Southern District of Indiana •Eastern District of Wisconsin •Western District of Wisconsin

Eighth Circuit	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

Ninth Circuit	District of Alaska •District of Arizona •Central District of California •Eastern District of California •Northern District of California •Southern District of California •District of Hawaii •District of Idaho •District of Montana •District of Nevada •District of Oregon •Eastern District of Washington •Western District of Washington

Tenth Circuit	District of Colorado •District of Kansas •District of New Mexico •Eastern District of Oklahoma •Northern District of Oklahoma •Western District of Oklahoma •District of Utah •District of Wyoming

Eleventh Circuit	Middle District of Alabama •Northern District of Alabama •Southern District of Alabama •Middle District of Florida •Northern District of Florida •Southern District of Florida •Middle District of Georgia •Northern District of Georgia •Southern District of Georgia