Paul Kinloch Holmes III (born November 10, 1951) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (in case citations, W.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeale ...

Early life and education

Holmes was born in

Newport, Arkansas Newport is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Arkansas, United States located on the White River northeast of Little Rock. The population was 7,879 at the 2010 census. Newport is home to a campus of the Arkansas State University ...

on November 10, 1951. Holmes earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in 1973 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1978.

Career

From 1973 to 1974 he served as a management trainee for the United National Bank in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

.Holmes' Testimony
/ref> In 1974 he served as a campaign aide to David Pryor when he ran for

Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. In 1975 he served as an

Account executive Account executive is a role in sales, advertising, marketing, and finance involving intimate understanding of a client company's objectives and products and a professional capability to provide effective advice toward creation of successful promot ...

for an advertising agency in Little Rock. In 1976 he served as a law clerk for a private law firm in Little Rock. From 1976 to 1978 he served as a part time investigator for the Washington County Public Defender's Office in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

. From 1978 until 1993, Holmes worked in private legal practice in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

. From 1993 until 2001, Holmes was the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Western District of Arkansas. From 2001 until his appointment to the federal bench, Holmes worked in private legal practice in Fort Smith.

Federal judicial service

In December 2009, Arkansas senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln recommended Holmes to become a federal district judge. On April 28, 2010, President Obama nominated Holmes to the seat on the Western District of Arkansas that was vacated when Judge Robert T. Dawson assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on August 14, 2009. Holmes' nomination lapsed at the end of 2010, and he was renominated by Obama on January 5, 2011. The

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

voted to advance Holmes' nomination to the full

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on February 3, 2011. The United States Senate confirmed Holmes' nomination on February 7, 2011 by a 95–0 vote. He received his commission on February 8, 2011. He served as Chief Judge on February 14, 2012, until February 14, 2019. Holmes assumed

on November 10, 2021, his 70th birthday.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Paul K. III 1951 births Living people 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas People from Newport, Arkansas United States Attorneys for the Western District of Arkansas United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama University of Arkansas School of Law alumni Westminster College (Missouri) alumni