United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Middle District of Florida
Eleventh Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 15
Judges: 12
Vacancies: 3
Judges
Chief: Marcia Howard
Active judges: John L. Badalamenti, Tom Barber, Wendy W. Berger, Paul G. Byron, Sheri Polster Chappell, Marcia Howard, William Jung, Carlos E. Mendoza, Steven Merryday, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, Mary Scriven, Julie Sneed Senior judges: Henry Adams, John Antoon, Susan Bucklew, Anne Conway, Timothy Corrigan, Virginia Covington, Roy Bale Dalton Jr., Brian Davis, Patricia Fawsett, Charlene Honeywell, Elizabeth Kovachevich, Richard Lazzara, James S. Moody, Gregory Presnell, Harvey Schlesinger, John Steele, James Whittemore

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida is one of 94 United States district courts. The district has courthouses in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, and Tampa. 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 three current vacancies on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, out of the court's 15 judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Steven Merryday	George H.W. Bush (R)	February 10, 1992 -	University of Florida, 1972	University of Florida Law, 1975
Marcia Howard	George W. Bush (R)	February 20, 2007 -	Vanderbilt University, 1987	University of Florida Law, 1990
Mary Scriven	George W. Bush (R)	September 30, 2008 -	Duke University, 1983	Florida State University College of Law, 1987
Sheri Polster Chappell	Barack Obama (D)	May 22, 2013 -	University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1984	Nova Southeastern University, 1987
Paul G. Byron	Barack Obama (D)	June 24, 2014 -	University of Michigan, 1983	Louisiana State University School of Law, 1986
Carlos E. Mendoza	Barack Obama (D)	June 27, 2014 -	West Virginia University, 1993	West Virginia University, 1997
William Jung	Donald Trump (R)	September 10, 2018 -	Vanderbilt University, 1980	University of Illinois College of Law, 1983
Tom Barber	Donald Trump (R)	July 11, 2019 -	University of Florida, 1989	University of Pennsylvania, 1992
Wendy W. Berger	Donald Trump (R)	July 29, 2019 -	Florida State University, 1990	Florida State University College of Law, 1992
John L. Badalamenti	Donald Trump (R)	June 4, 2020 -	University of Florida, 1995	University of Florida College of Law, 1999
Kathryn Kimball Mizelle	Donald Trump (R)	November 20, 2020 -	Covenant College, 2009	University of Florida College of Law, 2012
Julie Sneed	Joe Biden (D)	March 4, 2024 -	University of Florida, 1991	Florida State University College of Law, 1994

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

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

• Democrat appointed: 4
• Republican appointed: 8

Senior judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Harvey Schlesinger	George H.W. Bush (R)	June 5, 2006 -	The Citadel, 1962	T.C. Williams School of Law, 1965
Susan Bucklew	Bill Clinton (D)	August 1, 2008 -	Florida State University, 1964	Stetson University College of Law, 1977
Patricia Fawsett	Ronald Reagan (R)	August 25, 2008 -	University of Florida, 1965	Florida Law School, 1973
Henry Adams	Bill Clinton (D)	April 8, 2010 -	Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, 1966	Howard University School of Law, 1969
Richard Lazzara	Bill Clinton (D)	December 17, 2011 -	Loyola University-New Orleans, 1967	University of Florida Law, 1970
Gregory Presnell	Bill Clinton (D)	April 1, 2012 -	College of William and Mary, 1964	University of Florida Law, 1966
John Antoon	Bill Clinton (D)	June 3, 2013 -	Florida Southern College, 1968	Florida State University College of Law, 1971
James S. Moody	Bill Clinton (D)	March 31, 2014 -	University of Florida, 1969	University of Florida Law, 1972
John Steele	Bill Clinton (D)	June 3, 2015 -	University of Detroit, 1971	University of Detroit Law, 1973
Anne Conway	George H.W. Bush (R)	August 1, 2015 -	John Carroll University, 1972	University of Florida Law, 1975
James Whittemore	Bill Clinton (D)	August 29, 2017 -	University of Florida, 1974	Stetson University College of Law, 1977
Elizabeth Kovachevich	Ronald Reagan (R)	December 14, 2018 -	University of Miami, 1958	Stetson University Law, 1961
Virginia Covington	George W. Bush (R)	July 12, 2020 -	University of Tampa, 1976	Georgetown University Law Center, 1980
Roy Bale Dalton Jr.		July 9, 2022 -	University of Florida, 1974	University of Florida Law, 1976
Charlene Honeywell	Barack Obama (D)	December 4, 2023 -	Howard University, 1979	University of Florida Law, 1981
Brian Davis	Barack Obama (D)	December 30, 2023 -	Princeton, 1974	University of Florida Law, 1980
Timothy Corrigan	George W. Bush (R)	November 2, 2024 -	Notre Dame, 1978	Duke Law, 1981

Senior judges by appointing political party

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

• Democrat appointed: 11
• Republican appointed: 6

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
Thomas G. Wilson		April 9, 1979 -	Michigan State University, 1961	Duke University School of Law, 1964
Monte Richardson		June 2, 2003 -		American University School of Law
James Klindt		October 31, 2007 -		Florida State University College of Law
Greg Kelly		January 14, 2008 -	State University of New York, Buffalo, 1984	University of Toledo Law, 1988
Anthony E. Porcelli		August 8, 2009 -		Stetson University College of Law
Joel Toomey		July 6, 2010 -	State University of New York, 1979	Duke Law School, 1982
Philip Lammens		July 2, 2012 -	University of Florida, 1999	University of Florida College of Law, 2002
Patricia D. Barksdale		November 1, 2013 -	University of Florida, 1993	University of Florida College of Law, 1996
Mac McCoy		July 1, 2015 -	Stetson University, 1998	Stetson University College of Law, 2001
Amanda Sansone		June 6, 2016 -	Amherst College, 1998	University of Florida College of Law, 2002
Daniel Irick		October 1, 2016 -	University of Florida, 2000	University of Florida College of Law, 2004
Christopher Tuite		February 5, 2018 -	St. John Fisher College, 1985	Cornell Law School, 1989
Sean Flynn		August 1, 2018 -	Emory University Goizueta Business School, 2000	Emory University School of Law, 2003
Leslie Hoffman		March 1, 2019 -	University of Florida, 1992	University of Florida College of Law, 1997
Nicholas Mizell		July 8, 2019 -	University of Kansas, 1996	University of Kansas, 1999
Embry Kidd	United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida	July 25, 2019 -	Emory University, 2005	Yale University, 2008

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.

Timothy Corrigan - (2020-2024) Steven Merryday - (2015-2020) Anne Conway - (2008-2015) Patricia Fawsett - (2003-2008) Elizabeth Kovachevich - (1996-2002) John Moore - (1992-1995) Susan Black - (1990-1992) George Carr - (1989-1990) William Hodges - (1982-1989)

Isaac Krentzman - (1981-1982) George C. Young - (1973-1981) William McRae - (1971-1973) Joseph Lieb - (1966-1971) John Bryan Simpson - (1962-1966)

Former judges

For more information about the judges of the Middle District of Florida, see former federal judges of the Middle District of Florida.

Jurisdiction

Middle District of Florida counties (click for larger map)

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

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

The Fort Myers Division, covering Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, and Lee counties.

The Jacksonville Division, covering Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Hamilton, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee, and Union counties.

The Ocala Division, covering Citrus, Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties.

The Orlando Division, covering Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia counties.

The Tampa Division, covering Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota 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 Middle District of Florida 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	9,758	10,380	17,749	15	9	651	20	7	8	5,728	36
2011	9,366	15,996	10,750	15	4	624	22	7	38	3,395	36
2012	9,663	10,621	10,455	15	21	644	24	8	9	2,574	29
2013	10,507	11,744	9,327	15	24	700	20	7	9	1,430	19
2014	10,385	10,696	9,040	15	9	692	20	7	8	1,016	14
2015	10,199	10,812	8,519	15	12	680	18	7	8	404	6
2016	11,068	11,297	8,419	15	24	738	18	8	7	281	4
2017	10,553	10,921	8,242	15	28	704	18	7	7	305	5
2018	10,777	10,951	8,155	15	36	718	18	7	6	371	6
2019	11,034	10,675	8,573	15	29	736	17	7	6	393	6
2020	10,324	10,008	8,939	15	11	688	13	8	6	445	6
2021	9,972	10,357	8,599	15	0	665	15	11	6	461	7
2022	10,113	10,679	8,150	15	0	674	15	11	7	454	7
2023	10,785	10,638	8,375	15	0	719	16	10	5	447	7
Average	10,322	11,127	9,521	15	15	688	18	8	9	1,265	13

History

The George C. Young United States Courthouse and Federal Building in Orlando, FL

The District of Florida was established by Congress on March 3, 1845, with one post to cover the entire state. On July 30, 1962, Congress established the Middle District of Florida with four seats, transferring posts from the then Southern District of Florida and assigning the judges of the Northern and Southern districts to help cover the Middle District of Florida. Over time, eleven additional judicial posts were added for a total of fifteen current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Middle District of Florida:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
March 3, 1845	5 Stat. 788	1(District of Florida)
July 30, 1962	76 Stat. 247	4
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	5
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	6
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	9
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	11
November 29, 1999	113 Stat. 1501	15

Noteworthy cases

For a searchable list of opinions, click here.

• Welfare drug testing case (2011-2013)      Judge(s):Mary Scriven (Lebron v. Wilkins, 6:11-cv-01473-MSS-DAB)	Click for summary→
On October 25, 2011, Judge Mary Scriven issued a temporary injunction against a Florida state law that required mandatory drug testing for all applicants to the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The law, which was in effect briefly from July 1, 2011, until October 24, 2011, stated that if an applicant were to test positive for drugs, he or she would be "ineligible to receive TANF benefits for one year after the date of the positive test" unless he or she could establish that a substance abuse treatment program had been satisfactorily completed; in that case, the prospective applicant would be able to reapply for TANF six months after the positive drug test. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Luis Lebron, a man who sought welfare assistance for his family but refused to take the drug test. In issuing the temporary injunction, Scriven described the law as "an unconstitutional invasion of privacy," noting that the state couldn't "condition [citizens from] getting some benefit from the government by surrendering [their] constitutional rights." Additional information about the ruling can be found here. In December 2013, after the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided to extend the drug-testing injunction following the government's appeal, Scriven issued a final ruling in this case, granting Lebron's motion for summary judgment on remand, meaning the case would be decided in Lebron's favor without a trial on its merits. Scriven found that Florida's drug-testing requirement for TANF applicants and recipients was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment, issuing a permanent injunction against the law. In the ruling, Scriven wrote: “ The court finds there is no set of circumstances under which the warrantless, suspicionless drug testing at issue in this case could be constitutionally applied. ”

Noteworthy events

Federal Judicial Conference recommendation (2019)

In March 2019, the Federal Judicial Conference (FJC) recommended that six judgeships be added to the district. Based on FJC data, the district handled 628 weighted filings per judgeship from September 2017 to September 2018. Weighted filings are a specific metric used by the federal judiciary that accounts for the different amounts of time judges require to resolve types of civil and criminal cases. The national average in that period for weighted filings per judgeship was 513.

The FJC is the policy-making body for the United States federal courts system. It was first organized as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges in 1922. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States serves as chair of the conference. The members of the conference are the chief judge of each judicial circuit, the Chief Judge of the Court of International Trade, and a district judge from each regional judicial circuit.

Federal courthouse

Five separate courthouses serve the Northern District of Florida located in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, and Tampa.

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 November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Bill Clinton had the most district court appointments with 169.

Judges by district

See also: Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each district and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies in a district and how many pending nominations for that district are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line, and you can navigate through the pages by clicking the arrows at the top of the table. It is updated every Monday.

Judicial selection

The district courts are served by Article III federal judges who are appointed for life during "good behavior." They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States makes the appointments, which must then be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution.

Step	A Candidacy Proceeds	A Candidacy Halts
1. Recommendation made by Congress Member to the President	President Nominates to Senate Judiciary Committee	President Declines Nomination
2. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews Candidate	Sends candidate to Senate for confirmation	Returns candidate to President, who may re-nominate to Committee
3. Senate votes on candidate confirmation	Candidate becomes federal judge	Candidate does not receive judgeship

Magistrate judges

The district courts are also served by magistrate judges. Congress created the judicial office of federal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed to magistrate judge. The chief judge of each district appoints one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Official website of the Middle District of Florida
• Opinions of the Middle District of Florida
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida