United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia (S.D. Ga.)

Appeals to	Eleventh Circuit
Established	August 11, 1848
Judges assigned	3
Chief judge	Lisa Godbey Wood
Official site

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia (in case citations, S.D. Ga.) is a United States District Court which serves the residents of thirty-four counties in Georgia through six divisions.

Appeals from cases brought in the Southern District of Georgia are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

History

The United States District Court for the District of Georgia was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 73, on September 24, 1789.^[1] The District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts on August 11, 1848, by 9 Stat. 280.^[1]^[2]^[3] The Middle District was formed from portions of those two Districts on May 28, 1926, by 44 Stat. 670.^[1]

The Brunswick division serves Appling, Camden, Glynn, Long, McIntosh, and Wayne counties.

The Savannah division includes: Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty counties.

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Active	Chief	Senior	Appointed by
14	Chief Judge	Lisa Godbey Wood	Brunswick	1963	2007–present	2010–present	—	G.W. Bush
13	District Judge	William Theodore Moore Jr.	Savannah	1940	1994–present	2004–2010	—	Clinton
15	District Judge	James Randal Hall	Augusta	1958	2008–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
11	Senior District Judge	Berry Avant Edenfield	Savannah	1934	1978–2006	1997–2004	2006–present	Carter
12	Senior District Judge	Dudley Hollingsworth Bowen Jr.	Augusta	1941	1979–2006	1990–1997	2006–present	Carter

#	Judge	State	Born/Died	Active service	Term as Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Nicoll, John CochranJohn Cochran Nicoll	GA	1793–1863	1839–1861^[4]	—	—	Van Buren, Van Buren	resignation
2	Erskine, JohnJohn Erskine	GA	1813–1895	1865–1883^[5]	—	—	Johnson, A.A. Johnson	retirement
3	Speer, EmoryEmory Speer	GA	1848–1918	1885–1918	—	—	Arthur, Arthur	death
4	Lambdin, William WallaceWilliam Wallace Lambdin	GA	1861–1916	1915–1916	—	—	Wilson, Wilson	death
5	Evans, Jr., Beverly DanielBeverly Daniel Evans, Jr.	GA	1865–1922	1917–1922	—	—	Wilson, Wilson	death
6	Barrett, William HaleWilliam Hale Barrett	GA	1866–1941	1922–1941	—	—	Harding, Harding	death
7	Lovett, Archibald BattleArchibald Battle Lovett	GA	1884–1945	1941–1945	—	—	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
8	Scarlett, Francis MuirFrancis Muir Scarlett	GA	1891–1971	1946–1968	—	1968–1971	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
9	Lawrence, Jr., Alexander AtkinsonAlexander Atkinson Lawrence, Jr.	GA	1906–1979	1968–1978	1970–1976	1978–1979	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
10	Alaimo, Anthony A.Anthony A. Alaimo	GA	1920–2009	1971–1991	1976–1990	1991–2009	Nixon, Nixon	death

Seat 1
Seat reassigned from the District of Georgia on August 11, 1848 by 9 Stat. 280 (concurrent with South District)
Nicoll	1848–1861
Erskine	1865–1883
Seat reassigned solely to the Southern District on April 25, 1882 by 22 Stat. 47
Speer	1885–1918
Seat abolished on December 13, 1918 (Temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 2
Seat established on March 3, 1915 by 38 Stat. 959 (temporary)
Lambdin	1915–1916
Seat became permanent upon the abolishment of Seat 1 on December 13, 1918
Evans, Jr.	1917–1922
Barrett	1922–1941
Lovett	1941–1945
Scarlett	1946–1968
Lawrence, Jr.	1968–1978
Edenfield	1978–2006
Hall	2008–present

Seat 3
Seat established on June 2, 1970 by 84 Stat. 294
Alaimo	1971–1991
Moore, Jr.	1994–present

Seat 4
Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
Bowen, Jr.	1979–2006
Wood	2007–present

^ ^a ^b ^c U.S. District Courts of Georgia, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.
^ Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 390.
^ Alfred Conkling, A Treatise on the Organization, Jurisdiction and Practice of the Courts of the United States (1864), p. 179.
^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on January 23, 1840, confirmed by the United States Senate on February 17, 1840, and received commission on February 17, 1840. Nicoll was initially appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Georgia; he was reassigned to the Northern and Southern Districts by operation of law on August 11, 1848.
^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 20, 1865, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 22, 1866, and received commission on January 22, 1866.

v t e United States district and territorial courts

List of United States district and territorial courts



District Courts	Alabama (N, M, S) Alaska Arizona Arkansas (E, W) California (C, E, N, S) Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida (N, M, S) Georgia (N, M, S) Hawaii Idaho Illinois (N, C, S) Indiana (N, S) Iowa (N, S) Kansas Kentucky (E, W) Louisiana (E, M, W) Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan (E, W) Minnesota Mississippi (N, S) Missouri (E, W) Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York (E, N, S, W) North Carolina (E, M, W) North Dakota Ohio (N, S) Oklahoma (E, N, W) Oregon Pennsylvania (E, M, W) Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee (E, M, W) Texas (E, N, S, W) Utah Vermont Virginia (E, W) Washington (E, W) West Virginia (N, S) Wisconsin (E, W) Wyoming

Territorial courts	Guam Northern Mariana Islands Virgin Islands

Extinct courts	Former United States district courts United States District Court for the District of Orleans District of Potomac Eastern District of Illinois District of the Canal Zone District of China