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    UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

    Eastern District of Texas

    Honorable Rodney Gilstrap, Chief Judge
    David A. O'Toole, Clerk of Court

    History of Judges Succession

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    Home » Judges

    Chief Judges of the Eastern District of Texas

    • Rodney Gilstrap 2018 - Present
    • Ron Clark 2015 - 2018
    • Leonard Davis 2012-2015
    • David Folsom 2009-2012
    • Thad Heartfield 2003-2009
    • John H. Hannah, Jr. 2001-2003
    • Richard A. Schell 1994-2001
    • Robert Manley Parker 1990-1994
    • William Wayne Justice 1980-1990
    • Joseph Jefferson Fisher 1967-1980
    • Joseph Warren Sheehy 1954-1967

    Judges Succession of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (1857 to present)

    U.S. District Court for the District of Texas 1846-1857

    December 29, 1845
    9 Stat. 1

    Waltrous, John C.
    1846-1857

    The act of February 21, 1857 established two districts in Texas, Eastern and Western. The act transferred the judgeship to the Eastern District of Texas.

    U.S. District Court Judges for the Eastern District of Texas

    Act of Feb. 21, 1857
    11 Stat. 164    		 Act of February 10, 1954
    68 Stat. 8    		 Act of June 2, 1970
    84 Stat. 294

    Waltrous, John C.
    1857-1870

    Cecil, Lamar J. R.
    1954-1958

    		 Steger, William M.
    1970-1987

    Winch, Joel C. C.
    1870-1871

    		 Fisher, Joseph J.
    1959-1984    		 Schell, Richard A.
    1988-2015

    Morril, Amos
    1872-1883

    		 Hall, Sam B., Jr.
    1985-1994

    Jordan, Sean D.
    2019-Present

    Sabin, Chauncey B.
    1884-1890

    		 Folsom, David
    1995-2012    		  

    Bryant, David E.
    1890-1910

    		 Schroeder, Robert W. III
    2014-Present    		  

    Russell, Gordon J.
    1910-1919

    		    

    Estes, W. Lee
    1920-1930

    		    

    Bryant, Randolph
    1931-1951

    		    

    Sheehy, Joseph W.
    1951-1967

    		    

    Justice, William W.
    1968-1998

    		    

    Ward, T. John
    1999-2011

    		    

    Mazzant, Amos L., III
    2014-Present

    		    

     

    Act of October 20, 1978
    92 Stat. 1629    		 Act of July 10, 1984
    98 Stat. 333
    Parker, Robert M.
    1979-1994    		 Cobb, Howell
    1985-2001
    Heartfield, Thad
    1995-2010    		 Clark, Ron
    2002-Present
    Gilstrap, J. Rodney
    2011-Present    		 Truncale, Michael J.
    2019-Present

     

    Act of July 10, 1984
    98 Stat. 333    		 Act of December 1, 1990
    104 Stat. 5089    		 Act of November 2, 2002
    116 Stat. 1758
    Brown, Paul N.
    1985-2001    		 Hannah, John H., Jr.
    1994-2003    		 Crone, Marcia A.
    2003-Present
    Davis, Leonard E.
    2002-2015

    Schneider, Michael H., Sr.
    2004-2016

    		  
    Barker, J. Campbell
    2019-Present    		 Kernodle, Jeremy D.
    2018-Present    		  

     

    Read more about the history of the Eastern District of Texas Judgeships.