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United States District Court for the District of Nevada
United States District Court for the District of Nevada
(D. Nev.)
Location	Las Vegas More locations Reno; Carson City; Elko; Ely; Lovelock;
Appeals to	Ninth Circuit
Established	February 27, 1865
Judges	7
Chief Judge	Andrew P. Gordon
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Sigal Chattah (acting)
U.S. Marshal	Gary G. Schofield
	www.nvd.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the District of Nevada (in case citations, D. Nev.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nevada. The court has locations in Las Vegas and Reno.

Cases from the District of Nevada are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of April 1, 2025^[update], the acting United States attorney is Sigal Chattah.

Current judges

As of December 20, 2025^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Active	Chief	Senior	Appointed by
26	Chief Judge	Andrew P. Gordon	Las Vegas	1962	2013–present	2024–present	—	Obama
24	District Judge	Gloria Navarro	Las Vegas	1967	2010–present	2014–2019	—	Obama
25	District Judge	Miranda Du	Reno	1969	2012–present	2019–2024	—	Obama
27	District Judge	Jennifer A. Dorsey	Las Vegas	1971	2013–present	—	—	Obama
28	District Judge	Richard F. Boulware	Las Vegas	1968	2014–present	—	—	Obama
29	District Judge	Anne Traum	Reno	1969	2022–present	—	—	Biden
30	District Judge	Cristina D. Silva	Las Vegas	1979	2022–present	—	—	Biden
14	Senior Judge	Howard D. McKibben	Reno	1940	1984–2005	1997–2002	2005–present	Reagan
18	Senior Judge	Roger L. Hunt	inactive	1942	2000–2011	2007–2011	2011–present	Clinton
19	Senior Judge	Kent Dawson	Las Vegas	1944	2000–2012	—	2012–present	Clinton
21	Senior Judge	James C. Mahan	Las Vegas	1943	2002–2018	—	2018–present	G.W. Bush
22	Senior Judge	Robert Clive Jones	inactive	1947	2003–2016	2011–2014	2016–present	G.W. Bush

Former judges

#	Judge	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Alexander White Baldwin	1835–1869	1865–1869	—	—	Lincoln	death
2	Edgar Winters Hillyer	1830–1882	1869–1882	—	—	Grant	death
3	George Myron Sabin	1833–1890	1882–1890	—	—	Arthur	death
4	Thomas Porter Hawley	1830–1907	1890–1906	—	—	B. Harrison	retirement
5	Edward Silsby Farrington	1856–1929	1907–1928	—	1928–1929	T. Roosevelt	death
6	Frank Herbert Norcross	1869–1952	1928–1945	—	1945–1952	Coolidge	death
7	Roger Thomas Foley	1886–1974	1945–1957	1954–1957	1957–1974	Truman^{[Note 1]}	death
8	John Rolly Ross	1899–1963	1954–1963	1961–1963	—	Eisenhower	death
9	Roger D. Foley	1917–1996	1962–1982	1963–1980	1982–1996	Kennedy	death
10	Bruce Rutherford Thompson	1911–1992	1963–1978	—	1978–1992	Kennedy	death
11	Harry E. Claiborne	1917–2004	1978–1986	1980–1986	—	Carter	removal
12	Edward Cornelius Reed Jr.	1924–2013	1979–1992	1986–1992	1992–2013	Carter	death
13	Lloyd D. George	1930–2020	1984–1997	1992–1997	1997–2020	Reagan	death
15	Philip Martin Pro	1946–present	1987–2011	2002–2007	2011–2015	Reagan	retirement
16	David Warner Hagen	1931–2022	1993–2003	—	2003–2005	Clinton	retirement
17	Johnnie B. Rawlinson	1952–present	1998–2000	—	—	Clinton	elevation
20	Larry R. Hicks	1943–2024	2001–2012	—	2012–2024	G.W. Bush	death
23	Brian Sandoval	1963–present	2005–2009	—	—	G.W. Bush	resignation

^ Judge Foley was nominated by President Roosevelt but was appointed to the Court by (i.e., received his commission from) President Truman.

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

Seat 1
Seat established on February 27, 1865 by 13 Stat. 440
Baldwin	1865–1869
Hillyer	1869–1882
Sabin	1882–1890
Hawley	1890–1906
Farrington	1907–1928
Norcross	1928–1945
R.T. Foley	1945–1957
Seat abolished on April 1, 1957 (temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 2
Seat established on February 10, 1954 by 68 Stat. 8 (temporary)
Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 1 on April 1, 1957
Ross	1954–1963
Thompson	1963–1978
Claiborne	1978–1986
Pro	1987–2011
Boulware II	2014–present

Seat 3
Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80
R.D. Foley	1962–1982
George	1984–1997
Rawlinson	1998–2000
Hicks	2001–2012
Dorsey	2013–present

Seat 4
Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
Reed, Jr.	1979–1992
Hagen	1993–2003
Jones	2003–2016
Traum	2022–present

Seat 5
Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
McKibben	1984–2005
Sandoval	2005–2009
Navarro	2010–present

Seat 6
Seat established on November 29, 1999 by 113 Stat. 1501
Hunt	2000–2011
Du	2012–present

Seat 7
Seat established on November 29, 1999 by 113 Stat. 1501
Dawson	2000–2012
Gordon	2013–present

Seat 8
Seat established on December 21, 2000 by 114 Stat. 2762
Mahan	2002–2018
Silva	2022–present

Courthouses

Las Vegas

36°09′54″N 115°08′34″W / 36.16510°N 115.14270°W / 36.16510; -115.14270 The Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse is the home for the district court in Las Vegas. The building of the courthouse was completed in 2002 and was the first federal building built to comply with the post-Oklahoma City blast resistance requirements. Blast-resistance tests for the project were conducted at the Department of Defense’s Large Blast Thermal Simulator (LBTS) in White Sands, New Mexico to validate building performance under blast loads.^[1] The LBTS facility was designed, built, and equipped in the early 1990s to perform tests on structural models, vehicles, and components, subjected to simulated high pressures combined with high temperatures, as in a major blast.^[2]

On January 4, 2010, a single gunman, identified as Johnny Lee Wicks, aged 66, went inside the lobby of the courthouse and opened fire, fatally wounding Special Deputy U.S. Marshal Stanley Cooper who was on duty as a Court Security Officer. Wicks was killed by return fire from other security officers and U.S. Marshals. The Entry Rotunda is named in the Honor of Deputy Cooper and the City of Las Vegas named a street near the court in his honor as well.

Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, both of whom had offices in the courthouse building, were not present when this happened. Wicks was apparently angry over the outcome of a legal dispute over his Social Security benefits.^[3]^[4]

Reno

The Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building was completed in 1996. The building's primary tenants are the U.S. District Court, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, Nevada Senators, and the Corporation for National Community Services.^[5]

References

^ "Lloyd D. George United States Courthouse Architecture Project | Enclos". Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
^ Design, Analysis and Construction of LBTS, White Sands, NM, Chalhoub M.S., ParsonsLIB-Doc#891209
^ "Court officer killed, marshal wounded in shooting inside Las Vegas courthouse". New York Daily News.
^ "Courthouse gunman had history of brushes with law". January 5, 2010.
^ "Building Information". www.gsa.gov. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015.

External links

United States District Court – District of Nevada

[1] Judge Foley was nominated by President Roosevelt but was appointed to the Court by (i.e., received his commission from) President Truman.

[2] "Lloyd D. George United States Courthouse Architecture Project | Enclos". Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.

[3] Design, Analysis and Construction of LBTS, White Sands, NM, Chalhoub M.S., ParsonsLIB-Doc#891209

[4] "Court officer killed, marshal wounded in shooting inside Las Vegas courthouse". New York Daily News.

[5] "Courthouse gunman had history of brushes with law". January 5, 2010.

[6] "Building Information". www.gsa.gov. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015.

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