United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

Southern District of Georgia
Eleventh Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 3
Judges: 3
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Stan Baker
Active judges: Stan Baker, James Hall, Lisa Wood Senior judges: Dudley Bowen, William Moore

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of courthouses in Augusta, Brunswick, Dublin, Savannah, Waycross, and Statesboro. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit based in downtown Atlanta at the Elbert P. Tuttle Federal Courthouse.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, out of the court's three judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Lisa Wood	George W. Bush (R)	February 8, 2007 -	University of Georgia, 1985	University of Georgia School of Law, 1990
James Hall	George W. Bush (R)	April 29, 2008 -	Augusta College, 1979	University of Georgia School of Law, 1982
Stan Baker	Donald Trump (R)	August 30, 2018 -	Davidson College, 2001	University of Georgia, 2004

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 0
• Republican appointed: 3

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Dudley Bowen	Jimmy Carter (D)	June 25, 2006 -	University of Georgia, 1964	University of Georgia, 1965
William Moore	Bill Clinton (D)	February 28, 2017 -	Georgia Military College, 1960	University of Georgia School of Law, 1964

Senior judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democrat appointed: 2
• Republican appointed: 0

Magistrate judges

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Brian K. Epps		June 6, 2013 -	University of Georgia, 1995	University of Georgia School of Law, 1998
Benjamin Cheesbro	United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia	September 5, 2018 -		University of Georgia School of Law, 2010
Christopher Ray	United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia	February 15, 2019 -	Princeton University, 1991	Fordham University School of Law, 1994

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.

On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.

James Randal Hall - (2017 - 2024) Lisa Wood - (2010 - 2017) William Moore - (2004 - 2010) Dudley Bowen - (1997 - 2004) Berry Edenfield - (1990 - 1997) Anthony Alaimo - (1976 - 1990) Alexander Lawrence - (1970 - 1976)

Former judges

For more information about the judges of the Southern District of Georgia, see former federal judges of the Southern District of Georgia.

Jurisdiction

Southern District of Georgia counties (click for larger map)

The Southern District of Georgia has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are six court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Augusta Division, covering Burke, Glascock, Lincoln, Richmond, Warren, Columbia, Jefferson, McDuffie, Taliaferro, and Wilkes counties

The Brunswick Division, covering Appling, Glynn, Long, Wayne, Camden, Jeff Davis, and McIntosh counties

The Dublin Division, covering Dodge, Laurens, Telfair, Wheeler, Johnson, Montgomery, and Treutlen counties

The Savannah Division, covering Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty counties

The Statesboro Division, covering Bulloch, Emanuel, Screven, Evans, Candler, Jenkins, Tattnall, and Toombs counties

The Waycross Division, covering Atkinson, Brantley, Coffee, Ware, Bacon, Charlton, and Pierce counties

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2024. Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

Caseload statistics explanation
Term	Explanation
Cases filed and terminated	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated or decided by the court in a calendar year. The chart below reflects the table columns Cases filed and Cases terminated.
Average time from filing to disposition	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to date of disposition (acquittal, sentencing, dismissal, etc.). The chart below reflects the table columns Median time (Criminal) and Median time (Civil).
Starting case load	The number of cases pending from the previous calendar year.
Cases filed	The number of civil and criminal lawsuits formally initiated in a calendar year.
Cases terminated	The total number of civil and criminal lawsuits decided by the court in a calendar year.
Remaining cases	The number of civil and criminal cases pending at the end of a given year.
Median time (Criminal)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition. In criminal cases, the date of disposition occurs on the day of sentencing or acquittal/dismissal.
Median time (Civil)	The average amount of time, in months, from a case's date of filing to the date of disposition.
Three-year civil cases	The number and percent of civil cases that were filed more than three years before the end of the given calendar year.
Vacant posts	The number of months during the year an authorized judgeship was vacant.
Trial/Post	The number of trials completed divided by the number of authorized judgeships on the court. Trials include evidentiary trials, hearings on temporary restraining orders, and preliminary injunctions.
Source: United States Courts, "Explanation of the Judicial Caseload Profiles for United States District Courts," accessed September 25, 2018

United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia caseload stats, 2010-2023
Year	Cases Filed	Cases Terminated	Cases Pending	Number of Judgeships	Vacant Judgeship Months	Average Total Filings per Judgeship	Trials Completed per Judgeship	Median time from filing to disposition, criminal	Median time from filing to disposition, civil	Three-year civil cases (#)	Three-year civil cases (%)
2010	1,648	1,608	1,288	3	0	549	23	9	9	12	2
2011	1,480	1,509	1,069	3	0	494	20	9	7	20	3
2012	1,693	1,653	1,200	3	0	564	33	9	8	24	3
2013	1,587	1,531	1,267	3	0	529	49	9	9	27	3
2014	1,700	1,719	1,253	3	0	567	40	8	10	29	3
2015	1,573	1,481	1,338	3	0	524	37	8	9	35	4
2016	1,609	1,645	1,305	3	0	536	36	8	11	46	5
2017	1,582	1,541	1,356	3	10	527	25	8	9	63	8
2018	1,633	1,466	1,519	3	12	544	16	8	8	68	7
2019	1,763	1,609	1,674	3	0	588	25	8	9	85	8
2020	1,651	1,517	1,801	3	0	550	13	10	9	94	9
2021	1,510	1,560	1,748	3	0	503	18	12	9	92	9
2022	1,564	1,784	1,527	3	0	521	17	12	10	91	11
2023	1,429	1,634	1,322	3	0	476	21	11	8	80	10
Average	1,602	1,590	1,405	3	2	534	27	9	9	55	6

History

The District of Georgia was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789 and established the entire state as one district with one post. On August 11, 1848, Congress reorganized the District of Georgia into the Northern District of Georgia and the Southern District of Georgia with one post split between the two districts. On April 25, 1882, Congress assigned a new post to the Northern District of Georgia and permanently assigned the previous post to the Southern District of Georgia. Since then, two additional posts were added to the court for a total of three posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Southern District of Georgia:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
April 25, 1882	22 Stat. 47	1
March 3, 1915	38 Stat. 959	2
1918	Temporary post expired	1
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	2
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	3

Federal courthouse

Six federal courthouses serve the Southern District of Georgia located in Augusta, Brunswick, Dublin, Savannah, Waycross, and Statesboro.

About United States District Courts

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is a United States bankruptcy court and a number of bankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on these territorial courts do not enjoy the protections of Article III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are 677 U.S. District Court judgeships.

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through March 1 of the first year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, no president had made Article III judicial appointments.