United States District Court for the District of North Dakota

District of North Dakota
Eighth Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 2
Judges: 2
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Peter Welte
Active judges: Daniel Traynor, Peter Welte Senior judges: Patrick Conmy, Daniel Hovland

The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota is one of 94 United States district courts. The court is headquartered in Fargo and has additional locations at Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot. The district was created in 1889, when the Dakota Territory was divided into North Dakota and South Dakota. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, based in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, at the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse and Building.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, out of the court's two judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Peter Welte	Donald Trump (R)	August 5, 2019 -	North Dakota State University, 1989	University of North Dakota, 1997
Daniel Traynor	Donald Trump (R)	January 13, 2020 -	University of North Dakota, 1994	University of North Dakota School of Law, 1997

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: 2

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Patrick Conmy	Ronald Reagan (R)	January 5, 2000 -	Harvard College, 1955	Georgetown College Law Center, 1959
Daniel Hovland	George W. Bush (R)	November 10, 2019 -	Concordia College, 1976	University of North Dakota School of Law, 1979

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: 0
• Republican appointed: 2

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
Alice Senechal		October 2, 2014 -	North Dakota State University, 1977	University of Minnesota Law, 1984
Clare Hochhalter		February 8, 2019 -	Jamestown College, 1979	University of North Dakota School of Law, 1983

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.

Daniel Hovland - (2016-2019) Ralph Erickson - (2009 - 2016) Daniel Hovland - (2002 - 2009) Rodney Webb - (1993 - 2001) Patrick Conmy - (1985 - 1992) Paul Benson - (1971 - 1985) George Register - (1955 - 1971) Charles Joseph Vogel - (1954 - 1954)

Former judges

For more information on the judges of the District of North Dakota, see former federal judges of the District of North Dakota.

Jurisdiction

North Dakota counties (click for larger map)

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

The jurisdiction of the District of North Dakota consists of all the counties in the state of North Dakota.

The court is headquartered in Fargo and has additional locations at Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot.

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 District of North Dakota 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	609	584	438	2	0	305	26	6	10	13	7
2011	592	558	398	2	0	297	21	6	8	15	7
2012	819	628	658	2	0	410	18	7	8	20	7
2013	877	725	798	2	0	439	30	8	12	23	7
2014	910	872	824	2	0	455	30	8	12	18	6
2015	869	823	943	2	0	435	39	10	11	88	18
2016	970	839	1,026	2	0	485	23	11	11	87	15
2017	823	1,002	872	2	3	412	26	13	22	41	11
2018	740	805	804	2	12	370	20	13	13	46	13
2019	773	776	781	2	7	387	16	13	11	58	17
2020	760	688	848	2	0	380	17	14	12	48	15
2021	803	697	946	2	0	402	28	15	12	44	15
2022	793	768	965	2	0	397	27	15	14	55	19
2023	767	800	937	2	0	384	33	17	12	47	16
Average	793	755	803	2	2	397	25	11	12	43	12

History

The District of North Dakota was established by Congress and assigned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on April 26, 1890 with one post to cover the entire state. Over time, one additional judicial post was added for a total of 2 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of North Dakota:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
April 26, 1890	26 Stat. 67	1
June 25, 1921	42 Stat. 66	2(1 temporary)
1928	Temporary post expired	1
February 10, 1954	68 Stat. 8	2

Federal courthouse

Four separate courthouses serve the District of North Dakota:

• William L. Guy Federal Bldg. in Bismarck
• Quentin N. Burdick U.S. Courthouse in Fargo
• Bruce M. Van Sickle U.S. Courthouse in Minot
• Ronald N. Davies U.S. Courthouse in Grand Forks

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.