---
title: "Robert S. Bell | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/robert-s-bell-pa-mdj-40-3-03"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-07-27"
---

# Robert S. Bell

Pennsylvania Magisterial District Court 40-3-03 · Magisterial District Judge

## Profile

- Court: Pennsylvania Magisterial District Court 40-3-03
- State: Pennsylvania
- Role: Magisterial District Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-27

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## 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

### recording photography evidence presentation

Scope: statewide

For Pennsylvania Common Pleas proceedings, statewide Pa.R.J.A. 1910 prohibits courtroom broadcasting, recording, and photography unless an exception or judicial authorization applies; the rule also recognizes judge-authorized electronic or photographic means for evidence presentation.

Evidence excerpt: the use of electronic or photographic means for the presentation of evidence

[201 Pa. Code Chapter 19, Rule 1910, Broadcasting, Recording and Photography in the Courtroom](https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?d=&file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F201%2Fchapter19%2Fchap19toc.html)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.pacourts.us/courts/minor-courts/magisterial-district-judges)
- [Official roster](https://www.pacourts.us/courts/minor-courts/magisterial-district-judges)
- [Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania official judicial roster](https://www.pacourts.us/courts/minor-courts/magisterial-district-judges)
- [201 Pa. Code Chapter 19, Rule 1910, Broadcasting, Recording and Photography in the Courtroom](https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?d=&file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F201%2Fchapter19%2Fchap19toc.html)

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## Biography

### Professional career

- Robert Holmes Bell (April 19, 1944 – June 8, 2023) was a U.S. district judge for the Western District of Michigan, serving from 1987 until his death in 2023, and known for significant criminal and civil cases, including a rare federal death sentence in Michigan
- He then became a judge on the Ingham District Court (1973–1979) and later the Ingham County Circuit Court (1979–1987)
- From 1969 to 1973, Bell held the role of an assistant county prosecuting attorney in Ingham County, Michigan

### Education

- Wayne State University Law School in — J.D. (1969)

### Additional information

- Senior Judge: January 31, 2017 – June 8, 2023
- Bell also served on the Judicial Conference of the United States’ Criminal Law Committee, including as chair from 2010 to 2013
- Chief Judge: 2001–2008
- On March 11, 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Bell to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, a seat vacated by Wendell Alverson Miles.
- Confirmed by the Senate on July 1, 1987, and began service the next day
- Bell was born in Lansing, Michigan, and graduated from Wheaton College in 1966, lettering in track each year.
- After the U.S. Justice Department advised prosecutors to ask jurors for the death penalty, the jury unanimously agreed, and Bell ordered the sentence.