--- title: "Hayden Wilson Head Jr. | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/hayden-wilson-head-jr" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-08-03" --- # Hayden Wilson Head Jr. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas - State: Texas - Role: Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Chief Judge: Led the court from 2003 to 2009 - Judge, District Court, S.D. Texas, 1981-2009 - Tenure: held the role of a judge on the Southern District of Texas from 1981 until November 13, 2009 - Inactive senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and serving as Chief Judge from 2003 to 2009 - After law school, Head practiced law in Corpus Christi (1968–1969) before joining the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps from 1969 to 1972. - His father, Hayden Wilson Head Sr., was a prominent Corpus Christi attorney and former U.S. Army Air Corps fighter pilot ### Education - B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1966 and an LL.B. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1968. - University of Texas System ### Additional information - Senior Status: Assumed senior status in 2009; became inactive on June 1, 2018. - In 2014, Head vacated a magistrate judge’s order to unseal government electronic surveillance records, a decision that kept most surveillance details and legal justifications secret. - Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 1999-2001 - Nomination & Confirmation: Nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 17, 1981, to replace Owen DeVol Cox; confirmed by the Senate on October 21, 1981, and commissioned October 26, 1981. - Private practice, Corpus Christi, TX, 1972-1981 - He returned to private practice in Corpus Christi from 1972 to 1981. - Private practice, Corpus Christi, Texas, 1968-1969, 1972-1981 - Private practice, Corpus Christi, TX, 1968-1969 - Born November 12, 1944. - Date of birth: 1944-01-01 - Current Status: Inactive senior judge; no longer assigned to active cases. - Birth place: Sherman, TX ## 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.fjc.gov/node/1381996) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1381996) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1381996) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1412/hayden-wilson-head-jr/) - [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/1412/hayden-wilson-head-jr/) - [Judge Hayden Wilson Head Jr.](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1381996) - [Wikidata: Hayden Wilson Head Jr.](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5686410) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/hayden-wilson-head-jr", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/hayden-wilson-head-jr", "name": "Hayden Wilson Head Jr. | KnowJudges", "description": "Hayden Wilson Head Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. 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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-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. 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.