--- title: "Kenneth M. Hoyt | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kenneth-m-hoyt" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-08-03" --- # Kenneth M. Hoyt 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 - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, having assumed senior status on March 2, 2013 - Judge, District Court, S.D. Texas, 1988-2013 - Justice, First Court of Appeals of Texas, 1985-1988 - Hoyt’s legal career began in private practice in Houston, Texas (1972–1985) at several firms, including Wickliff, King, Hoyt & Jones. - Adjunct professor, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University, 1983-1984 - Presiding judge, Harris County [Texas] One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth District Court, 1981-1982 - Presiding Judge, 125th Civil District Court of Texas (1981–1982) - He was also faculty at the South Texas College Trial Advocacy Program and an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University’s law school ### Education - Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, where he also held the role of editor of the Thurgood Marshall Law Review — J.D. (1972) - Texas Southern University — B.A. (1969) ### Additional information - He took senior status on March 2, 2013. - Confirmed by the Senate on March 31, 1988 and commissioned April 1, 1988. - On November 24, 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Hoyt to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, filling the seat vacated by Carl Olaf Bue Jr.. - Private practice, Houston, TX, 1972-1985 - Faculty, Trial Advocacy Program, South Texas College, 1981-1982 - City attorney, Kendleton, TX, 1975-1981 - City attorney, Kendleton, Texas, 1975-1981 - He also held the role of city attorney for Kendleton (1975–1981) and Prairie View (1981). - Kenneth Michael Hoyt was born March 2, 1948 in San Augustine County, Texas. - Date of birth: 1948-01-01 - City attorney, Prairie View, Texas - The second African American federal judge in Texas. - Current Contact (Senior Judge): Southern District of Texas, Houston Division Case Manager: Cynthia Horace Phone: 713‐250‐5515 - Hoyt is the son of a barber and a beautician, attended Lincoln Elementary and High Schools in San Augustine, and is married to Veola Johnson Hoyt with three children. - Birth place: San Augustine County, 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/1382471) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1382471) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1382471) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1541/kenneth-m-hoyt/) - [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/1541/kenneth-m-hoyt/) - [Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1382471) - [Wikidata: Kenneth M. Hoyt](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6390400) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kenneth-m-hoyt", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kenneth-m-hoyt", "name": "Kenneth M. Hoyt | KnowJudges", "description": "Kenneth M. Hoyt, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Source-linked judicial identity, courtroom procedures, and presentation guidance.", "dateModified": "2026-08-03", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kenneth-m-hoyt#judge" } }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kenneth-m-hoyt#judge", "name": "Kenneth M. 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Hoyt", "item": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kenneth-m-hoyt" } ] } ] } ``` ## Federal civil docket activity Dataset updated through 2026-06-30. | Period | Assigned cases | Terminated cases | Median disposition (months) | Median sample | | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | | 1y | 252 | 22 | 2 | 22 | | 2y | 530 | 160 | 3 | 160 | | 5y | 1463 | 971 | 5.7 | 971 | | 10y | 2635 | 2134 | 5.7 | 2134 | Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/ ## Published courtroom rules ### Shared court rules - [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. 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.