The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: Eastern District of Arkansas Western District of Arkansas Northern District of Iowa Southern District of Iowa District of Minnesota Eastern District of Missouri Western District of Missouri District of Nebraska District of North Dakota District of South Dakota
Created by the 25th United States Congress through passage of the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act of 1837, the court is composed of 11 active judges. It is based primarily at the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri, and secondarily at the Warren E. Burger United States Courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is one of 13 United States courts of appeals. In 1929, Congress passed a statute dividing the Eighth Circuit, placing Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas in the Eighth Circuit and creating a Tenth Circuit that included Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Current composition of the court
Vacancies and pending nominations Seat Prior Judge's Duty Station Seat last held by Vacancy reason Date of vacancy Nominee Date of nomination 8 El Dorado, AR Bobby Shepherd Senior status TBD Lee Rudofsky September 14, 2026
List of former judges
Chief judges
Succession of seats
See also Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts#Eighth Circuit List of current United States circuit judges
Notes
References
primary but incomplete source for the duty stations
secondary source for the duty stations data is current to 2002
source for the state, lifetime, term of active judgeship, term of chief judgeship, term of senior judgeship, appointer, termination reason, and seat information
External links United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Recent opinions from FindLaw