United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties: Benton, Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Perry, Shelby, Tipton, and Weakley.

The court's jurisdiction includes the entirety of West Tennessee, plus Perry County in Middle Tennessee. This area includes the cities of Jackson and Memphis.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is David Kustoff.

History

On January 31, 1797, Congress organized Tennessee into one judicial district with one judgeship, filled by John McNairy. Since they failed to assign the district to a circuit, the court had the jurisdiction of both a district court and a circuit court. Appeals from this one district court went direclty to the United States Supreme Court. With the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1801, this one district court in Tennessee was abolished. The act gave the United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit the authority to hold court in Tennessee with both district court and circuit court jurisdiction. This act was repealed a year later, restoring the court to its previous state. A month later, Congress divided Tennessee into two districts, Eastern and Western, with only one judgeship for both districts. On February 24, 1807, Congress again abolished the two districts and created the United States Circuit for the District of Tennessee. On March 3, 1837, Congress assigned the judicial district of Tennessee to the Eighth Circuit. On June 18, 1839, Congress divided Tennessee into three districts, Eastern, Middle, and Western. Again, only one judgeship was allotted for all three districts. On July 15, 1862, Congress reassigned appellate jurisdiction to the Sixth Circuit. Finally, on June 14, 1878, Congress authorized a separate judgeship for the Western District of Tennessee. There are now five permanent judgeships and three magistrate judgeships for the Western District of Tennessee.

Current Judges

Jon Phipps McCalla, Chief Judge

James D. Todd, Senior Judge

Bernice B. Donald, Judge

Samuel H. Mays, Judge

J. Daniel Breen, Judge

S. Thomas Anderson, Judge

Diane K. Vescovo, Magistrate Judge

Tu M. Pham, Magistrate Judge

James H. Allen, Magistrate Judge

External links

* [http://www.tnwd.uscourts.gov/ United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Official Website]
* [http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/tnw/ United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Official Website]