United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire

The United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire (in case citations, D.N.H.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of New Hampshire. The Warren B. Rudman U.S. Courthouse for the New Hampshire district is located in Concord.^{[citation needed]}

United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire
(D.N.H.)
Location	Concord More locations Littleton
Appeals to	First Circuit
Established	September 24, 1789
Judges	3
Chief Judge	Landya B. McCafferty
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Jay McCormack (acting)
U.S. Marshal	Nick Willard
www.nhd.uscourts.gov

The Warren B. Rudman U.S. Courthouse in Concord

Appeals from the District of New Hampshire are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).^{[citation needed]}

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of February 22, 2025^[update], the acting United States attorney is Jay McCormack.^[1]

Current judges

As of April 2, 2022^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
17	Chief Judge	Landya B. McCafferty	Concord	1962	2013–present	2018–present	—	Obama
16	District Judge	Joseph Normand Laplante	Concord	1965	2007–present	2011–2018	—	G.W. Bush
18	District Judge	Samantha D. Elliott	Concord	1975	2021–present	—	—	Biden
14	Senior Judge	Paul Barbadoro	Concord	1955	1992–2021	1997–2004	2021–present	G.H.W. Bush
15	Senior Judge	Steven J. McAuliffe	Concord	1948	1992–2013	2004–2011	2013–present	G.H.W. Bush

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	John Sullivan	NH	1740–1795	1789–1795	—	—	Washington	death
2	John Pickering	NH	1737–1805	1795–1804	—	—	Washington	impeachment and conviction
3	John Samuel Sherburne	NH	1757–1830	1804–1830	—	—	Jefferson	death
4	Matthew Harvey	NH	1781–1866	1830–1866[Note 1]	—	—	Jackson	death
5	Daniel Clark	NH	1809–1891	1866–1891	—	—	A. Johnson	death
6	Edgar Aldrich	NH	1848–1921	1891–1921	—	—	B. Harrison	death
7	George Franklin Morris	NH	1866–1953	1921–1943	—	1943–1953	Harding	death
8	Aloysius Joseph Connor	NH	1895–1967	1944–1967	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
9	Hugh H. Bownes	NH	1920–2003	1968–1977	—	—	L. Johnson	elevation to 1st Cir.
10	Shane Devine	NH	1926–1999	1978–1992	1979–1992	1992–1999	Carter	death
11	Martin F. Loughlin	NH	1923–2007	1979–1989	—	1989–1995	Carter	retirement
12	Norman H. Stahl	NH	1931–2023	1990–1992	—	—	G.H.W. Bush	elevation to 1st Cir.
13	Joseph A. Diclerico Jr.	NH	1941–2022	1992–2007	1992–1997	2007–2022	G.H.W. Bush	death

1. Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 14, 1830, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 16, 1830, and received commission the same day

Chief judges

Chief Judge
Devine	1979–1992
Diclerico	1992–1997
Barbadoro	1997–2004
McAuliffe	2004–2011
Laplante	2011–2018
McCafferty	2018–present

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 September 24, 1789 by 1 Stat. 73 Sullivan 1789–1795 Pickering 1795–1804 Sherburne 1804–1830 Harvey 1830–1866 Clark 1866–1891 Aldrich 1891–1921 Morris 1921–1943 Connor 1944–1967 Bownes 1968–1977 Devine 1978–1992 Barbadoro 1992–2021 Elliott 2021–present

Seat 2 Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Loughlin 1979–1989 Stahl 1990–1992 McAuliffe 1992–2013 McCafferty 2013–present

Seat 3 Seat established on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089 Diclerico 1992–2007 Laplante 2007–present

U.S. attorneys

• John Samuel Sherburne (1789–1793)
• Edward St. Loe Livermore (1794–1797)
• Jeremiah Smith (1797–1800)
• Edward St. Loe Livermore (1801)
• John Samuel Sherburne (1802–1804)
• Jonathan Steele (1804)
• Daniel Humphreys (1804–1827)
• William Plumer Jr. (1827–1828)
• Daniel L. Christie (1828–1829)
• Samuel Cushman (1829–1830)
• Daniel Meserve Durell (1830–1834)
• John P. Hale (1834–1841)
• Joel Eastman (1841–1845)
• Franklin Pierce (1845–1847)
• Josiah Minot (1847–1850)
• William Weir Stickney (1850–1853)
• John H. George (1853–1858)
• Anson S. Marshall (1858–1861)
• Charles W. Rand (1861–1871)
• Henry P. Rolf (1871–1874)
• Joshua G. Hall (1874–1879)
• Ossian Ray (1879–1880)
• Charles H. Burns (1881–1885)
• John Samuel Hatch Frink (1885–1890)
• James W. Remick (1890–1894)
• Oliver Ernesto Branch (1894–1898)
• Charles J. Hamblett (1898–1907)
• Charles W. Hoitt (1907–1914)
• Fred H. Brown (1914–1922)
• Raymond V. Smith (1922–1934)
• Alexander Murchie (1934–1944)
• Dennis E. Sullivan (1945–1949)
• Robert D. Branch (1949)
• John J. Sheehan (1949–1954)
• Maurice P. Bois (1954–1961)
• William H. Craig (1961–1963)
• John D. McCarthy (1963)
• Louis M. Janelle (1963–1969)
• David A. Brock (1969–1972)
• William B. Cullimore (1972–1973)
• Carroll F. Jones (1973)
• William J. Deachman, III (1973–1977)
• William A. Shaheen (1977–1981)
• Robert J. Kennedy (1981)
• W. Stephen Thayer, III (1981–1984)
• Bruce E. Kenna (1984–1985)
• Richard V. Wiebusch (1985–1988)
• Peter E. Papps (1988–1989)
• Jeffrey R. Howard (1989–1992)
• Peter E. Papps (1992–1993)
• Paul M. Gagnon (1993–2001)
• Gretchen Leah Witt (2001)
• Thomas P. Colantuono (2001–2009)
• John P. Kacavas (2009–2015)^[2]
• Emily Gray Rice (2015–2017)
• Scott W. Murray (2018–2021)
• John J. Farley (acting)
• Jane E. Young (2021-2025)
• Jay McCormack (acting) (2025-)

See also

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