Former Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara E. Hill Becomes Federal Judge in Oklahoma

Hill becomes the 165th federal judge confirmed since Joe Biden became President.

The U.S. Senate today held a recorded vote to confirm one individual as an Article III federal judge. With this confirmation, 165 judges nominated by President Joe Biden have now been confirmed by the Senate. With today’s action, 125 of Biden’s judicial nominees have been approved for service on federal district courts.

In a 52-14 vote, Sara E. Hill was confirmed as a Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. She is Biden’s first confirmation to the 4-person court, with one additional vacancy where Biden’s nominee is awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

Hill assumes the Tulsa-based seat previously held by Claire Eagan, who took senior status in October 2022. A nominee of President George W. Bush, Eagan served on this court from 2001 to 2022 and was Chief Judge from 2005 to 2012. Hill was nominated to this seat on the federal judiciary by Biden in October 2023.

From 2004 to 2015, Hill served as a Deputy Attorney General for the Cherokee Nation. From 2014 to 2015, she was concurrently detailed as a tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma. She was then appointed as Secretary of National Resources for the Cherokee Nation - serving from October 2015 to August 2019. And finally, she was Attorney General of the Cherokee Nation from August 2019 to August 2023.