U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz Elevated to Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
Ritz becomes the 210th federal judge confirmed by the Senate during Joe Biden's presidency.
The U.S. Senate today held a recorded vote to confirm one individual as an Article III federal judge. With this confirmation, 210 judges nominated by President Joe Biden have now been confirmed by the Senate. With today’s action, 44 of Biden’s judicial nominees have been approved for service on federal appellate courts.
In a 48-46 vote, Kevin G. Ritz was confirmed as a Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He is Biden’s fourth confirmation to the 16-person court, with one additional vacancy where the President’s nominee is awaiting confirmation from the Senate.
Ritz assumes the Memphis, Tennessee-based seat currently held by Julia Smith Gibbons, who intends to take senior status upon swearing in of her successor. A nominee of President George W. Bush, Gibbons has served on this court since July 2002. Ritz was nominated to this seat on the federal judiciary by Biden in March 2024.
Since September 2022, Ritz has served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Between 2004 and 2005, he notably served as a law clerk to Judge Gibbons. In 2005, he became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee - which included tenures as the criminal appellate chief from 2010 to 2018 and as the appellate chief from 2018 to 2022.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit covers appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.