--- title: "Barbara D. Holmes | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/barbara-d-holmes-tennessee-us-magistrate" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Barbara D. Holmes U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee · U.S. Magistrate Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee - State: Tennessee - Role: U.S. Magistrate Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-29 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, appointed in August 2015 to a renewable eight‐year term - Judge Holmes serves in Courtroom 3D of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee - She also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the U.S. Trustee for Region 8 ### Education ### Additional information - Magistrate, District Court, M.D. Tennessee, 2015-present - In August 2025, Judge Holmes ordered the release of Kilmar Ábrego García, a Salvadoran national mistakenly deported in 2025 and later returned to the U.S. to face human smuggling charges. - J.D. — Vanderbilt Univ. — 1986 - B.A. — Adams State Univ. — 1982 - Before joining the bench, Holmes spent nearly 30 years in private legal practice in Nashville, Tennessee - handling commercial and bankruptcy litigation in federal and state courts, as well as pro bono work in juvenile, employment, emancipation, receivership, administrative, and family law cases. - She is licensed to practice in Tennessee and has been active in professional organizations such as the Tennessee Bar Foundation, American Bar Foundation, Nashville Bar Foundation, Mid‐South Commercial Law Institute, and the Harry Phillips American Inn of Court ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=63) - [Official roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=63) - [U.S. Courts judicial profile or roster](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/cjra_na_0331.2026.pdf#page=63) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9552/barbara-d-holmes/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9552/barbara-d-holmes/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Barbara D. Holmes](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/9552/barbara-d-holmes/) - [BR/MAG Judge Database: Barbara D. Holmes](https://legaldatalab.law.virginia.edu/brmag-judges/brmag-judges.json) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/barbara-d-holmes-tennessee-us-magistrate", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/barbara-d-holmes-tennessee-us-magistrate", "name": "Barbara D. Holmes | KnowJudges", "description": "Barbara D. Holmes, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.