United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (in case citations, W.D. Tex.) is a federal district court. The court convenes in San Antonio with divisions in Austin, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Pecos, and Waco. It has jurisdiction in over 50 Trans-Pecos, Permian Basin, and Hill Country counties of the U.S. state of Texas. This district covers over 92,000 square miles (240,000 km²) and seven divisions.

United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
(W.D. Tex.)
Location	San Antonio More locations United States Courthouse (Austin) Alpine Del Rio El Paso Fort Cavazos Midland Pecos Waco
Appeals to	Fifth Circuit
Established	February 21, 1857
Judges	13
Chief Judge	Alia Moses
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Justin R. Simmons (interim)
U.S. Marshal	Susan Pamerleau
www.txwd.uscourts.gov

Along with the District of New Mexico, Southern District of Texas, and District of Arizona, it is one of the busiest district courts in terms of criminal felony filings.^[1]

History

The first federal judge in Texas was John C. Watrous, who was appointed on May 26, 1846, and had previously served as Attorney General of the Republic of Texas. He was assigned to hold court in Galveston, at the time, the largest city in the state. As seat of the Texas Judicial District, the Galveston court had jurisdiction over the whole state.^[2] On February 21, 1857, the state was divided into two districts, Eastern and Western, with Judge Watrous continuing in the Eastern district.^[3] Judge Watrous and Judge Thomas H. DuVal, of the Western District of Texas, left the state on the secession of Texas from the Union, the only two federal judges not to resign their posts in states that seceded. When Texas was restored to the Union, Watrous and DuVal resumed their duties and served until 1870.

Divisions

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

The divisions of the Western District of Texas are:

John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse, home of the court's San Antonio Division

The federal courthouse in Austin is the court location of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division.

• Austin Division comprises the following counties: Bastrop, Blanco, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Gillespie, Hays, Kimble, Lampasas, Lee, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, San Saba, Travis, Washington and Williamson.
• Del Rio Division comprises the following counties: Edwards, Kinney, Maverick, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde and Zavala.
• El Paso Division comprises the following counties: El Paso and Hudspeth.
• Midland-Odessa Division comprises the following counties: Andrews, Crane, Ector, Martin, Midland and Upton.
• Pecos Division comprises the following counties: Brewster, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Loving, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Ward and Winkler.
• San Antonio Division comprises the following counties: Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Dimmit, Frio, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, Real and Wilson.
• Waco Division comprises the following counties: Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton, Hill, Leon, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Robertson and Somervell.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of December 9, 2022^[update] the United States Attorney is Jaime E. Esparza.^[4]

Notable cases

• Kocurek Assassination Attempt: Judge Lee Yeakel presided over the case of Chimene Onyeri, an aspiring Houston rapper who in 2015 attempted to assassinate Travis County District Judge Julie Kocurek after she previously sentenced him for probation violation, having shot her as she and her son were returning home from a football game at his high school before she was about to sentence him. The investigation of the attempt revealed a criminal theft and fraud enterprise he ran. After his many associates testified of his schemes, a federal jury convicted Onyeri on 17 counts of fraud, theft, racketeering and attempted murder and sentenced him to life in prison.^[5][6][7]

Current judges

As of April 9, 2024^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
32	Chief Judge	Alia Moses	Del Rio	1962	2002–present	2022–present	—	G.W. Bush
27	District Judge	Samuel Frederick Biery Jr.	San Antonio	1947	1994–present	2010–2015	—	Clinton
29	District Judge	Orlando Luis Garcia	San Antonio	1952	1994–present	2016–2022	—	Clinton
35	District Judge	Kathleen Cardone	El Paso	1953	2003–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
37	District Judge	Xavier Rodriguez	San Antonio	1961	2003–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
39	District Judge	Robert L. Pitman	Austin	1962	2014–present	—	—	Obama
40	District Judge	David Counts	Midland Pecos	1961	2018–present	—	—	Trump
41	District Judge	Alan Albright	Waco Austin	1959	2018–present	—	—	Trump
42	District Judge	Jason K. Pulliam	San Antonio	1971	2019–present	—	—	Trump
43	District Judge	Leon Schydlower	El Paso	1971	2024–present	—	—	Biden
44	District Judge	Ernesto Gonzalez	Del Rio	1962	2024–present	—	—	Biden
45	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
46	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
22	Senior Judge	James Robertson Nowlin	Austin	1937	1981–2003	1999–2003	2003–present	Reagan
26	Senior Judge	Sam Sparks	inactive	1939	1991–2017	—	2017–present	G.H.W. Bush
30	Senior Judge	David Briones	El Paso	1943	1994–2009	—	2009–present	Clinton
33	Senior Judge	Robert A. Junell	inactive	1947	2003–2015	—	2015–present	G.W. Bush
36	Senior Judge	Frank Montalvo	inactive	1956	2003–2022	—	2022–present	G.W. Bush
38	Senior Judge	David C. Guaderrama	El Paso	1954	2012–2023	—	2023–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
2	Austin	Earl Leroy Yeakel III	Retirement	May 1, 2023	–	–
5	El Paso	David C. Guaderrama	Senior status	May 27, 2023	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Thomas Howard DuVal	TX	1813–1880	1857–1880	—	—	Pierce	death
2	Ezekiel B. Turner	TX	1825–1888	1880–1888[Note 1]	—	—	Hayes	death
3	Thomas Sheldon Maxey	TX	1846–1921	1888–1916	—	—	Cleveland	retirement
4	DuVal West	TX	1861–1949	1916–1931	—	1931–1949	Wilson	death
5	William Robert Smith	TX	1863–1924	1917–1924	—	—	Wilson	death
6	Charles Albert Boynton	TX	1867–1954	1924–1947	—	1947–1954	Coolidge	death
7	Robert Johnston McMillan	TX	1885–1941	1932–1941	—	—	Hoover	death
8	Walter Angus Keeling	TX	1873–1945	1942–1945	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
9	Ben Herbert Rice Jr.	TX	1889–1964	1945–1964	1948–1962	—	Truman	death
10	R. Ewing Thomason	TX	1879–1973	1947–1963	—	1963–1973	Truman	death
11	Adrian Anthony Spears	TX	1910–1991	1961–1979[Note 2]	1962–1979	1979–1982	Kennedy	retirement
12	Homer Thornberry	TX	1909–1995	1963–1965	—	—	L. Johnson[Note 3]	elevation to 5th Cir.
13	Dorwin Wallace Suttle	TX	1906–2001	1964–1979	—	1979–2001	L. Johnson	death
14	Jack Roberts	TX	1910–1988	1966–1980	1979–1980	1980–1988	L. Johnson	death
15	Ernest Allen Guinn	TX	1905–1974	1966–1974	—	—	L. Johnson	death
16	John H. Wood Jr.	TX	1916–1979	1970–1979	—	—	Nixon	assassination
17	William S. Sessions	TX	1930–2020	1974–1987	1980–1987	—	Ford	resignation
18	Lucius Desha Bunton III	TX	1924–2001	1979–1992	1987–1992	1992–2001	Carter	death
19	Harry Lee Hudspeth	TX	1935–2024	1979–2001	1992–1999	2001–2016	Carter	retirement
20	Clyde Frederick Shannon Jr.	TX	1942–present	1980–1984	—	—	Carter	resignation
21	Hipolito Frank Garcia	TX	1925–2002	1980–2002	—	—	Carter	death
23	Edward C. Prado	TX	1947–present	1984–2003	—	—	Reagan	elevation to 5th Cir.
24	Walter Scott Smith Jr.	TX	1940–present	1984–2016	2003–2010	—	Reagan	retirement
25	Emilio M. Garza	TX	1947–present	1988–1991	—	—	Reagan	elevation to 5th Cir.
28	William Royal Furgeson Jr.	TX	1941–present	1994–2008	—	2008–2013	Clinton	retirement
31	Philip Ray Martinez	TX	1957–2021	2002–2021	—	—	G.W. Bush	death
34	Earl Leroy Yeakel III	TX	1945–present	2003–2023	—	—	G.W. Bush	retirement

1. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 14, 1880, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 1880, and received commission the same day.
2. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the Senate on March 16, 1962, and received commission on March 17, 1962.
3. Judge Thornberry was nominated by President Kennedy but was appointed to the Court by (i.e., received his commission from) President Johnson.

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 established on February 21, 1857 by 11 Stat. 164 DuVal 1857–1880 Turner 1880–1888 Maxey 1888–1916 West 1916–1931 McMillan 1932–1941 Keeling 1942–1945 Rice, Jr. 1945–1964 Suttle 1964–1979 Shannon, Jr. 1980–1984 Prado 1984–2003 Rodriguez 2003–present

Seat 2 Seat established on February 26, 1917 by 39 Stat. 938 W.R. Smith, Sr. 1917–1924 Boynton 1924–1947 Thomason 1947–1963 Thornberry 1963–1965 Roberts 1966–1980 Nowlin 1981–2003 Yeakel III 2003–2023 vacant 2023–present

Seat 3 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Spears 1962–1979 Hudspeth 1979–2001 Moses 2002–present

Seat 4 Seat established on March 18, 1966 by 80 Stat. 75 Guinn 1966–1974 Sessions 1974–1987 Garza 1988–1991 O. Garcia 1994–present

Seat 5 Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294 Wood, Jr. 1970–1979 Bunton III 1979–1992 Briones 1994–2009 Guaderrama 2012–2023 vacant 2023–present

Seat 6 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 H. Garcia 1980–2002 Junell 2003–2015 Counts III 2018–present

Seat 7 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 W.S. Smith, Jr. 1984–2016 Albright 2018–present

Seat 8 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Sparks 1991–2017 Pulliam 2019–present

Seat 9 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Furgeson, Jr. 1994–2008 Pitman 2014–present

Seat 10 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Biery, Jr. 1994–present

Seat 11 Seat established on December 21, 2000 by 114 Stat. 2762 Martinez 2002–2021 Gonzalez 2024–present

Seat 12 Seat established on November 2, 2002 by 116 Stat. 1758 Cardone 2003–present

Seat 13 Seat established on November 2, 2002 by 116 Stat. 1758 Montalvo 2003–2022 Schydlower 2024–present

See also

• Courts of Texas
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in Texas