United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (in case citations, N.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of forty-six counties. These are divided up into four divisions.

United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
(N.D. Ga.)
Location	Richard B. Russell Federal Building (Atlanta) More locations Gainesville Newnan Rome
Appeals to	Eleventh Circuit
Established	August 11, 1848
Judges	11
Chief Judge	Leigh Martin May
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Theodore S. Hertzberg (interim)
U.S. Marshal	Thomas E. Brown
gand.uscourts.gov

Appeals from cases brought in the Northern District of Georgia are to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

History

The United States District Court for the District of Georgia was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, on September 24, 1789.^[1] The District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on August 11, 1848, by 9 Stat. 280.^[1][2][3] The Middle District was formed from portions of those two Districts on May 28, 1926, by 44 Stat. 670.^[1]

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction and venue are enumerated in 28 U.S.C. § 90.

The Atlanta division includes: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, and Rockdale counties.

The Gainesville division serves: Banks, Barrow, Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, and White counties.

The Newnan division hears cases for: Carroll, Coweta, Fayette, Haralson, Heard, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, and Troup counties.

The Rome division serves: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield counties.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.

As of May 13, 2025^[update], the United States attorney is Theodore S. Hertzberg.^[4]

Current judges

As of May 23, 2025^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
40	Chief Judge	Leigh Martin May	Atlanta	1971	2014–present	2025–present	—	Obama
41	District Judge	Mark Howard Cohen	Atlanta	1955	2014–present	—	—	Obama
42	District Judge	Eleanor L. Ross	Atlanta	1967	2014–present	—	—	Obama
43	District Judge	Michael Lawrence Brown	Atlanta	1968	2018–present	—	—	Trump
44	District Judge	William M. Ray II	Atlanta	1963	2018–present	—	—	Trump
45	District Judge	J. P. Boulee	Atlanta	1971	2019–present	—	—	Trump
46	District Judge	Steven D. Grimberg	Atlanta	1974	2019–present	—	—	Trump
47	District Judge	Victoria Calvert	Atlanta	1981	2022–present	—	—	Biden
48	District Judge	Sarah Geraghty	Atlanta	1974	2022–present	—	—	Biden
49	District Judge	Tiffany R. Johnson	Atlanta	1986	2025–present	—	—	Biden
50	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
23	Senior Judge	Orinda Dale Evans	inactive	1943	1979–2008	1999–2006	2008–present	Carter
29	Senior Judge	Clarence Cooper	inactive	1942	1994–2009	—	2009–present	Clinton
31	Senior Judge	Willis B. Hunt Jr.	inactive	1932	1995–2005	—	2005–present	Clinton
32	Senior Judge	Thomas W. Thrash Jr.	Atlanta	1951	1997–2021	2014–2021	2021–present	Clinton
33	Senior Judge	Richard W. Story	Atlanta Gainesville	1953	1998–2018	—	2018–present	Clinton
34	Senior Judge	Charles A. Pannell Jr.	inactive	1946	1999–2013	—	2013–present	Clinton
38	Senior Judge	Amy Totenberg	Atlanta	1950	2011–2021	—	2021–present	Obama
39	Senior Judge	Steve C. Jones	Atlanta	1957	2011–2025	—	2025–present	Obama

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
14	Atlanta Newnan	Timothy Batten	Retirement	May 23, 2025	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	John Cochran Nicoll	GA	1793–1863	1848–1861[Note 1][Note 2]	—	—	Van Buren/Operation of law	resignation
2	John Erskine	GA	1813–1895	1865–1882[Note 3][Note 2]	—	—	A. Johnson	seat abolished
3	Henry Kent McCay	GA	1820–1886	1882–1886	—	—	Arthur	death
4	William Truslow Newman	GA	1843–1920	1886–1920[Note 4]	—	—	Cleveland	death
5	Samuel Hale Sibley	GA	1873–1958	1919–1931	—	—	Wilson	elevation to 5th Cir.
6	Emory Marvin Underwood	GA	1877–1960	1931–1948	—	1948–1960	Hoover	death
7	Robert Lee Russell	GA	1900–1955	1940–1949	1949	—	F. Roosevelt	elevation to 5th Cir.
8	Maurice Neil Andrews	GA	1894–1967	1949–1950[Note 5]	1949–1950	—	Truman	resignation
9	Frank Arthur Hooper	GA	1895–1985	1949–1967[Note 6]	1950–1965	1967–1985	Truman	death
10	William Boyd Sloan	GA	1895–1970	1951–1965	—	1965–1970	Truman	death
11	Lewis Render Morgan	GA	1913–2001	1961–1968	1965–1968	—	Kennedy	elevation to 5th Cir.
12	Sidney Oslin Smith Jr.	GA	1923–2012	1965–1974	1968–1974	—	L. Johnson	resignation
13	Newell Edenfield	GA	1911–1981	1967–1981	1974–1976	1981	L. Johnson	death
14	Albert John Henderson	GA	1920–1999	1968–1979	1976–1979	—	L. Johnson	elevation to 5th Cir.
15	Charles Allen Moye Jr.	GA	1918–2010	1970–1988	1979–1987	1988–2010	Nixon	death
16	William Clark O'Kelley	GA	1930–2017	1970–1996	1988–1994	1996–2017	Nixon	death
17	Richard Cameron Freeman	GA	1926–1999	1971–1991	—	1991–1999	Nixon	death
18	James Clinkscales Hill	GA	1924–2017	1974–1976	—	—	Nixon	elevation to 5th Cir.
19	Harold Lloyd Murphy	GA	1927–2022	1977–2017	—	2017–2022	Carter	death
20	Marvin Herman Shoob	SC	1923–2017	1979–1991	—	1991–2017	Carter	death
21	Robert L. Vining Jr.	GA	1931–2022	1979–1996	1995–1996	1996–2022	Carter	death
22	George Ernest Tidwell	GA	1931–2011	1979–1999	1996–1999	1999–2011	Carter	death
24	Robert Howell Hall	GA	1921–1995	1979–1990	—	1990–1995	Carter	death
25	Horace Ward	GA	1927–2016	1979–1993	—	1993–2016	Carter	death
26	J. Owen Forrester	GA	1939–2014	1981–2004	—	2004–2014	Reagan	death
27	Jack Tarpley Camp Jr.	GA	1943–present	1988–2008	2006–2008	2008–2010	Reagan	retirement
28	Julie E. Carnes	GA	1950–present	1992–2014	2009–2014	—	G.H.W. Bush	elevation to 11th Cir.
30	Frank M. Hull	GA	1948–present	1994–1997	—	—	Clinton	elevation to 11th Cir.
35	Beverly B. Martin	GA	1955–present	2000–2010	—	—	Clinton	elevation to 11th Cir.
36	William S. Duffey Jr.	GA	1952–present	2004–2018	—	—	G.W. Bush	retirement
37	Timothy Batten	GA	1960–present	2006–2025	2021–2025	—	G.W. Bush	retirement

1. Reassigned from the District of Georgia.
2. Jointly appointed to the Northern and Southern Districts of Georgia.
3. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 20, 1865, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 22, 1866, and received commission the same day.
4. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 9, 1886, confirmed by the Senate on January 13, 1887, and received commission the same day.
5. Recess appointment; resigned before the Senate considered the appointment.
6. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the Senate on February 21, 1950, and received commission on February 23, 1950.

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat reassigned from the District of Georgia on August 11, 1848 by 9 Stat. 280 (concurrent with Southern District) Nicoll 1848–1861 Erskine 1865–1882 Seat reassigned solely to the Southern District on April 25, 1882 by 22 Stat. 47

Seat 2 Seat established on April 25, 1882 by 22 Stat. 47 McCay 1882–1886 Newman 1887–1920 Seat abolished on February 14, 1920 (temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 3 Seat established on August 5, 1919 pursuant to 40 Stat. 1156 (temporary) Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 2 on February 14, 1920 Sibley 1919–1931 Underwood 1931–1948 Seat abolished on March 5, 1948 (temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 4 Seat established on May 24, 1940 by 54 Stat. 219 (temporary) Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 3 on March 5, 1948 Russell 1940–1949 Hooper 1949–1967 Edenfield 1967–1981 Forrester 1981–2004 Duffey, Jr. 2004–2018 Boulee 2019–present

Seat 5 Seat established on August 3, 1949 by 63 Stat. 493 Andrews 1949–1950 Sloan 1951–1965 Smith, Jr. 1965–1974 Hill 1974–1976 Murphy 1977–2017 Ray II 2018–present

Seat 6 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Morgan 1961–1968 Henderson 1968–1979 Evans 1979–2008 Jones 2011–2025 Johnson 2025–present

Seat 7 Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294 Moye, Jr. 1970–1988 Camp Jr. 1988–2008 Totenberg 2011–2021 Geraghty 2022–present

Seat 8 Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294 O'Kelley 1970–1996 Story 1998–2018 Grimberg 2019–present

Seat 9 Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294 Freeman 1971–1991 Cooper 1994–2009 Cohen 2014–present

Seat 10 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Shoob 1979–1991 Hull 1994–1997 Pannell, Jr. 1999–2013 Ross 2014–present

Seat 11 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Tidwell 1979–1999 Martin 2000–2010 May 2014–present

Seat 12 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Vining, Jr. 1979–1996 Thrash, Jr. 1997–2021 Calvert 2022–present

Seat 13 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Hall 1979–1990 Carnes 1992–2014 Brown 2018–present

Seat 14 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Ward 1979–1993 Hunt, Jr. 1995–2005 Batten 2006–2025 vacant 2025–present

U.S. Attorneys

• Emory Speer 1883–1885 ^[5]
• Ben H. Hill, Jr. 1885–1889
• Sion A. Darnell 1889–1893
• Joseph S. James 1893–1897
• Edgar A. Angier 1897–1905
• Farish C. Tate 1905–1913
• Hooper Alexander 1913–1921
• Clint W. Hager 1921–1934
• Lawrence S. Camp 1934–1942
• J. Ellis Mundy 1942
• M. Neil Andrews 1942–1946
• J. Ellis Mundy 1946–1953
• James W. Dorsey 1953–1959
• Charles D. Read, Jr. 1959–1961
• Charles L. Goodson 1961–1977
• William L. Harper 1977–1981
• Robert J. Castellani 1981
• Dorothy Y. Kirkley 1981
• James E. Baker 1981–1982
• Larry D. Thompson 1982–1986
• Stephen S. Cowen 1986
• Bob Barr 1986–1990
• Rimantas Rukstele 1990
• Joe D. Whitley 1990–1993
• Gerrilyn G. Brill 1993
• Kent B. Alexander 1994–1997
• Janet King 1997–1998
• Richard H. Deane, Jr. 1998–2001
• William S. Duffey Jr. 2001–2004
• Sally Yates 2004–2004
• David Nahmias 2004–2009
• Sally Yates 2010–2015
• John A. Horn 2015–2017
• BJay Pak 2017–2021
• Bobby Christine 2021
• Kurt Erskine 2021–2022
• Ryan K. Buchanan 2022–2025
• Theodore S. Hertzberg 2025–present

See also

• Courts of Georgia
• Garcia-Mir v. Meese
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Georgia