United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (in case citations, E.D. Tenn.) is the federal court in the Sixth Circuit whose jurisdiction covers most of East Tennessee and a portion of Middle Tennessee. The court has jurisdiction over 41 counties, which are divided among four divisions. Based in Knoxville, Tennessee, it maintains branch facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Greeneville, Tennessee; and Winchester, Tennessee.

• The Southern Division, based in Chattanooga, serves Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, McMinn, Meigs, Polk, Rhea and Sequatchie counties.
• The Northeastern Division, based in Greeneville, serves Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington counties.
• The Northern Division, based in Knoxville, serves Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott, Sevier and Union counties.
• The Winchester Division serves Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Lincoln, Moore, Warren and Van Buren counties.

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
(E.D. Tenn.)
The four divisions of the Eastern District of Tennessee, with courthouse locations
Location	Knoxville More locations Joel W. Solomon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse (Chattanooga) Greeneville Winchester
Appeals to	Sixth Circuit
Established	April 29, 1802
Judges	5
Chief Judge	Travis Randall McDonough
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Francis M. Hamilton III
U.S. Marshal	David G. Jolley
www.tned.uscourts.gov

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. Since January 5, 2021, the United States attorney has been Francis M. Hamilton III, first as interim United States attorney appointed by United States Attorney General Merrick Garland,^[1] until appointed full United States attorney, on April 25, 2022, by the District Court itself, while still waiting for a Presidential appointee to be confirmed by the US Senate.^[2]

The court was established by the Judiciary Act of 1801 ("Midnight Judges" Act) wherein Congress created a new Sixth Circuit with two districts in Tennessee. Since 1797, the state had been organized by Congress into one judicial district with one judge, John McNairy.

Tennessee – along with Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan – is located within the area covered by United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and appeals are taken to that court (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 Tennessee was established with one judgeship on January 31, 1797, by 1 Stat. 496.^[3][4] The judgeship was filled by President George Washington's appointment of John McNairy. Since Congress 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 directly to the United States Supreme Court.

On February 13, 1801, in the famous "Midnight Judges" Act of 1801, 2 Stat. 89, Congress abolished the U.S. district court in Tennessee,^[4] and expanded the number of circuits to six, provided for independent circuit court judgeships, and abolished the necessity of Supreme Court Justices riding the circuits. It was this legislation which created the grandfather of the present Sixth Circuit. The act provided for a "Sixth Circuit" comprising two districts in the State of Tennessee, one district in the State of Kentucky and one district, called the Ohio District, composed of the Ohio and Indiana territories (the latter including the present State of Michigan). The new Sixth Circuit Court was to be held at "Bairdstown" in the District of Kentucky, at Knoxville in the District of East Tennessee, at Nashville in the District of West Tennessee, and at Cincinnati in the District of Ohio. Unlike the other circuits which were provided with three circuit judges, the Sixth Circuit was to have only one circuit judge with district judges from Kentucky and Tennessee comprising the rest of the court. Any two judges constituted a quorum. New circuit judgeships were to be created as district judgeships in Kentucky and Tennessee became vacant.^[5]

The repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, 2 Stat. 132.^[4] The District was divided into the Eastern and Western Districts on April 29, 1802.^[3] 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, by 5 Stat. 313, Congress divided Tennessee into three districts, Eastern, Middle, and Western.^[3][4][6] 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, at which time President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed David M. Key as judge for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Tennessee. The first judge to serve only the Eastern District of Tennessee was Robert Love Taylor, appointed by Harry S. Truman.

Current judges

As of February 27, 2024^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
25	Chief Judge	Travis R. McDonough	Chattanooga	1972	2015–present	2020–present	—	Obama
21	District Judge	Thomas A. Varlan	Knoxville	1956	2003–present	2012–2019	—	G.W. Bush
26	District Judge	Clifton L. Corker	Greeneville	1967	2019–present	—	—	Trump
27	District Judge	Charles E. Atchley Jr.	Chattanooga	1966	2020–present	—	—	Trump
28	District Judge	Katherine A. Crytzer	Knoxville	1984	2020–present	—	—	Trump
17	Senior Judge	Robert Allan Edgar	inactive	1940	1985–2005	1998–2005	2005–present	Reagan
19	Senior Judge	Curtis Lynn Collier	Chattanooga	1949	1995–2014	2005–2012	2014–present	Clinton
20	Senior Judge	Thomas W. Phillips	Knoxville	1943	2002–2013	—	2013–present	G.W. Bush
22	Senior Judge	J. Ronnie Greer	Greeneville	1952	2003–2018	—	2018–present	G.W. Bush

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	John McNairy	TN	1762–1837	1802–1833[Note 1][Note 2]	—	—	Washington/Operation of law	resignation
2	Morgan Welles Brown	TN	1800–1853	1834–1853[Note 2][Note 3]	—	—	Jackson	death
3	West Hughes Humphreys	TN	1806–1882	1853–1862[Note 4]	—	—	Pierce	impeachment and conviction
4	Connally Findlay Trigg	TN	1810–1880	1862–1880[Note 5][Note 6]	—	—	Lincoln	death
5	David M. Key	TN	1824–1900	1880–1895[Note 5]	—	—	Hayes	retirement
6	Charles Dickens Clark	TN	1847–1908	1895–1908[Note 5]	—	—	Cleveland	death
7	Edward Terry Sanford	TN	1865–1930	1908–1923[Note 5]	—	—	T. Roosevelt	elevation to Supreme Court
8	Xenophon Hicks	TN	1872–1952	1923–1928[Note 5]	—	—	Harding	elevation to 6th Cir.
9	George Caldwell Taylor	TN	1885–1952	1928–1949	1948–1949	1949–1952	Coolidge	death
10	Leslie Rogers Darr	TN	1886–1967	1939–1961[Note 7]	1949–1961	1961–1967	F. Roosevelt	death
11	Robert Love Taylor	TN	1899–1987	1949–1984[Note 8]	1961–1969	1984–1987	Truman	death
12	Frank Wiley Wilson	TN	1917–1982	1961–1982	1969–1982	—	Kennedy	death
13	Charles Gelbert Neese	TN	1916–1989	1961–1982[Note 9]	—	1982–1989	Kennedy	death
14	Herbert Theodore Milburn	TN	1931–2016	1983–1984	1984	—	Reagan	elevation to 6th Cir.
15	Thomas Gray Hull	TN	1926–2008	1983–2002	1984–1991	2002–2008	Reagan	death
16	James Howard Jarvis II	TN	1937–2007	1984–2002	1991–1998	2002–2007	Reagan	death
18	Robert Leon Jordan	TN	1934–2024	1988–2001	—	2001–2024	Reagan	death
23	Harry Sandlin Mattice Jr.	TN	1954–present	2005–2020	—	2020–2021	G.W. Bush	retirement
24	Pamela L. Reeves	TN	1954–2020	2014–2020	2019–2020	—	Obama	death

1. Reassigned from the District of Tennessee.
2. Jointly appointed to the Eastern and Western Districts of Tennessee
3. From 1839 to 1853, Judge Brown was jointly appointed to the Middle District of Tennessee.
4. Jointly appointed to the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Tennessee
5. Jointly appointed to the Eastern and Middle Districts of Tennessee
6. From 1862 to 1878, Judge Trigg was jointly appointed to the Western District of Tennessee.
7. From 1939 to 1940, Judge Darr was jointly appointed to the Middle District of Tennessee.
8. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 5, 1950, confirmed by the United States Senate on March 8, 1950, and received commission on March 9, 1950
9. Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 15, 1962, confirmed by the Senate on February 7, 1962, and received commission on February 17, 1962

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 District of Tennessee on April 29, 1802 by 2 Stat. 165 (concurrent with Western District) McNairy 1802–1833 Seat made concurrent with Middle District on June 18, 1839 by 5 Stat. 313 Brown 1833–1853 Humphreys 1853–1862 Concurrency with Western District abolished on June 14, 1878 by 20 Stat. 132 Trigg 1862–1880 Key 1880–1895 Clark 1895–1908 Sanford 1908–1923 Hicks 1923–1928 Concurrency with Middle District abolished on May 23, 1928 pursuant to 42 Stat. 837 G. Taylor 1928–1949 R. Taylor 1949–1984 Jordan 1988–2001 Varlan 2003–present

Seat 2 Seat established on May 31, 1938 by 52 Stat. 584 (temporary, concurrent with Middle District) Concurrency with Middle District abolished and seat made permanent on November 27, 1940 by 54 Stat. 1216 Darr 1939–1961 Wilson 1961–1982 Hull 1983–2002 Greer 2003–2018 Corker 2019–present

Seat 3 Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 Neese 1962–1982 Milburn 1983–1984 Edgar 1985–2005 Mattice, Jr. 2005–2020 Atchley, Jr. 2020–present

Seat 4 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 Jarvis II 1984–2002 Phillips 2002–2013 Reeves 2014–2020 Crytzer 2020–present

Seat 5 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Collier 1995–2014 McDonough 2015–present

See also

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

References

1. "Interim United States Attorney Appointed For The Eastern District Of Tennessee" (Press release). Knoxville, Tennessee: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
2. "Meet the U.S. Attorney" (Press release). Knoxville, Tennessee: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. April 25, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
3. Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 391.
4. U.S. District Courts of Tennessee, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.
5. The Honorable Harry Phillips, "History of the Sixth Circuit Archived 2007-01-11 at the Wayback Machine".
6. Alfred Conkling, A Treatise on the Organization, Jurisdiction and Practice of the Courts of the United States (1842), p. 42.

External links

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Official Website

35.962012°N 83.916955°W / 35.962012; -83.916955