United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois


The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois is a Federal district court covering approximately the southern third of the state of Illinois.
Appeals from the Southern District of Illinois are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
It has three courthouses, at Benton, Cairo and East St. Louis. At present, four judges are assigned to this district.

History

The United States District Court for the District of Illinois was established by a statute passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819,. The act established a single office for a judge to preside over the court. Initially, the court was not within any existing judicial circuit, so the district court exercised the jurisdiction of both a district court and a circuit court, with appeals and writs of error taken directly to the United States Supreme Court. In 1837, Congress placed the District of Illinois within the newly created Seventh Circuit, and the district court resumed its normal jurisdiction,.
The Southern District itself was created by a statute passed on February 13, 1855,, which subdivided the District of Illinois into the Northern and the Southern Districts. The boundaries of the District and the seats of the courts were set forth in the statute:
The district has since been re-organized several times. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois was created on March 3, 1905 by, by splitting counties out of the Northern and Southern Districts. It was later eliminated in a reorganization on October 2, 1978 which replaced it with a Central District,, formed primarily from parts of the Southern District, and returning some counties to the Northern District.

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the Southern District of Illinois comprises the following counties: Alexander, Bond, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, and Williamson. The district was created in 1979. It has jurisdiction over the eastern suburbs of St. Louis and the city of Carbondale.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney is Steven D. Weinhoeft.

Current judges


Vacancies and pending nominations

SeatSeat last held byVacancy reasonDate of vacancyNomineeDate of nomination
4David R. HerndonRetirementJanuary 7, 2019David W. DuganFebruary 12, 2020
7Michael Joseph ReaganRetirementMarch 31, 2019Stephen P. McGlynnFebruary 4, 2020

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats