The United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa (in case citations, S.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over forty-seven of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The United States District Court for the District of Iowa, established on March 3, 1845, by 5 Stat. 789,Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 394.U.S. District Courts of Iowa, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center. was subdivided into the current Northern and Southern Districts on July 20, 1882, by 22 Stat. 172. Initially, one judge was assigned to each District.

By 1927, a backlog of unresolved cases dating back to 1920 had developed."Judge Wade Hits Delayed Legal Cases," Sioux City Journal, 1927-10-06, p. 1. In October 1927, Judge Martin Joseph Wade announced that he "was through" attempting to try cases requiring more than one day, but urged Congress to create a second judgeship for the Southern District of Iowa. On January 19, 1928, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law a bill that authorized a second judgeship for the District, with the proviso that when the existing judgeship (held by Judge Wade) becomes vacant, it shall not be filled unless authorized by Congress.Pub. L. No. 6, ch. 10, 70th Cong., 1st Sess, 45 Stat. 52. When the original judgeship became vacant upon Wade's death in 1931, Congress did not act to reauthorize it, leaving the Southern District with a single judgeship."No Additional Judgeship Created in Southern Iowa," Atlantic News-Telegraph, 1931-04-18 p. 5. A second judgeship in the Southern District was not reauthorized by Congress until 1979, with the creation of the judgeship first held by Harold Duane Vietor.92 Stat. 1629.

In 1962, Congress created a new judgeship that would be shared by the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa.75 Stat. 80. The shared judgeship was replaced in 1990 when the shared judgeship (then held by Judge Donald E. O'Brien) was assigned entirely to the Northern District, and a third Southern District judgeship (first held by Judge Ronald Earl Longstaff) was authorized.104 Stat. 5089.

In 2012, Judge Stephanie M. Rose was the first woman appointed to the bench in the Southern District of Iowa.

It is headquartered at the United States Courthouse in Des Moines, with satellite facilities in Council Bluffs and at the United States Court House in Davenport. , the United States attorney is David Waterman.

Jurisdiction

The Southern District of Iowa has three court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Central Division, covering Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Boone, Clarke, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Greene, Guthrie, Jasper, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lucas, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Polk, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Story, Taylor, Union, Wapello, Warren and Wayne counties.

The Eastern Division, covering Clinton, Des Moines, Henry, Johnson, Lee, Louisa, Muscatine, Scott, Van Buren, and Washington counties.

The Western Division, covering Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties.

Current judges :

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

U.S. Attorneys

John S. Runnels 1882-85 Daniel O. Finch 1885-89 Lewis Miles 1889-93 Charles D. Fullen 1893-1902 Claude R. Porter 1914-18 Edwin G. Moon 1918-22 Ralph Pringle 1922-24 Edwin G. Moon 1924 Ross R. Mowry 1924-32 Robert W. Colflesh 1932-34 Edwin G. Moon 1934-39 Cloid I. Level 1939 John K. Valentine 1939-40 Hugh B. McCoy 1940 Maurice F. Donegan 1940-49 William R. Hart 1949-53 Roy L. Stephenson 1953-60 Roy W. Meadows 1960-61 Donald A. Wine 1961-65 Philip T. Riley 1965 Donald M. Statton 1965-67 Jerry E. Williams 1967 James P. Rielly 1967-69 Allen L. Donielson 1969-76 George H. Perry 1976-77 Paul A. Zoss, Jr. 1977 James R. Rosenbaum 1977 Roxanne Barton Conlin 1977-81 Kermit B. Anderson 1981 Richard C. Turner 1981-86 Christopher D. Hagen 1986-90 Gene W. Shepard 1990-93 Don Carlos Nickerson 1993-2001 Inga Bumbary-Langston 2001 Steven M. Colloton 2001-2003 Stephen Patrick O'Meara 2003-2004 Matthew Whitaker 2004-2009 Nicholas A. Klinefeldt 2009-2015 Kevin E. VanderSchel 2015-2017 Marc Krickbaum 2017-2021 Richard D. Westphal 2021-2025 David Waterman 2025-

See also Courts of Iowa List of current United States district judges List of United States federal courthouses in Iowa

References

External links Southern District website U.S. Attorney for the Southern District