--- title: "John Edward Dowdell | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/john-e-dowdell" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # John Edward Dowdell U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma - State: Oklahoma - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, N.D. Oklahoma, 2012-present - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2012 and confirmed by the Senate 95–0 - Private Practice: Partner at Norman, Wohlgemuth, Chandler & Dowdell, P.C. in Tulsa from 1983–2012 - From 1999, acted as an Adjunct Settlement Judge in the Northern District of Oklahoma on a pro bono basis - Law clerk, Hon. William J. Holloway, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 1981-1983 ### Education - Wake Forest University — B.A. (1978) - University of Tulsa ### Additional information - Chief Judge: March 14, 2019 – June 21, 2021 - Private practice, Tulsa, OK, 1983-2012 - Date of birth: 1955-01-01 - handling civil and criminal cases, including six before the U.S. Supreme Court - Bishop Kelley High School - Birth place: Tulsa, OK ## 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 ### courtroom technology Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Public Wi-fi Guidelines . Courtroom Technology . The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma has technology available for use by counsel in all courtrooms. [Court Technology | Northern District of Oklahoma | United States District Court](https://www.oknd.uscourts.gov/Court%20Technology) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### courtroom technology Scope: courtwide Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge. Evidence excerpt: Touch Screen Monitors: The witness box and the VEPS cart have monitors with touch annotation capabilities. Images viewed on each monitor are identical to the images appearing on all other evidence presentation monitors throughout the courtroom. • VEPS Cart Location: The LCD touch monitor on the VEPS cart acts as a control screen and video… [Court_Technology_Courtroom_Video.pdf](https://oknd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/oknd/CourtTechnology/Court_Technology_Courtroom_Video.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### 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/1394076) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394076) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1394076) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/908/john-edward-dowdell/) - [Court Technology | Northern District of Oklahoma | United States District Court](https://www.oknd.uscourts.gov/Court%20Technology) - [Court_Technology_Courtroom_Video.pdf](https://oknd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/oknd/CourtTechnology/Court_Technology_Courtroom_Video.pdf) - [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/908/john-edward-dowdell/) - [Wikidata: John E. Dowdell](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6230712) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/john-e-dowdell", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/john-e-dowdell", "name": "John Edward Dowdell | KnowJudges", "description": "John Edward Dowdell, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. 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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.