Sidney Allen Fitzwater at a glance
- Current role
- Senior Judge
- Jurisdiction
- Texas · Federal
- Judicial service
- Active
Sidney Allen Fitzwater
Senior Judge · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Service record and verification
Judicial service and assignments
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas · Judge · Unknown · March 19, 1986–Unknown · Assignment source ↗
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas · Judge · Senior · Assignment source ↗
Appointment and verification
- Appointment method
- Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation
- Appointing authority
- Ronald Reagan
- Source authority
- Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory
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Biography
Professional career
- Judge, District Court, N.D. Texas, 1986-present
- Chief Judge: held the role of Chief Judge of the Northern District of Texas from 2007 to 2014
- Judge, Texas District Court, Two Hundred and Ninety-Eighth Judicial District, 1982-1986
- State court judge: 298th Judicial District, Dallas County, TX (1982–1986)
- As Senior Judge, Fitzwater continues to hear cases in the Northern District of Texas, with chambers at 1100 Commerce Street, Room 1358, Dallas, TX
- Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- In summary, Sidney Allen Fitzwater is a long-serving federal judge with a career spanning private practice, state court service, and nearly four decades on the federal bench, notable for his leadership as Chief Judge and his continued judicial activity in senior status
Education
- B.A. in 1975 and his J.D. in 1976 from Baylor University School of Law, where he held the role of Associate Editor of the Baylor Law Review.
Additional information
- 24, 2026) and Courthouse News Service v.
- Fitzwater handled over 10,000 district court cases between 1982 and 2026, with a median case resolution time of about 183 days.
- Senior status: Assumed on September 22, 2018.
- Appointed: January 29, 1986, by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, replacing Robert Madden Hill.
- Confirmation: Senate vote 52–42 on March 18, 1986; commission issued March 19, 1986.
- Private legal practice: Houston, TX (1976–1978) and Dallas, TX (1978–1982)
- Born September 22, 1953, in Olney, Maryland.
- Date of birth: 1953-01-01
- Of 370 appellate decisions reviewed, 252 were affirmed, 34 reversed or vacated, and 84 affirmed in part or reversed in part.
- Recent panel work includes cases such as Ridings v.
- His caseload included prisoner/habeas (21%), contract (17%), civil rights (12%), and other civil matters.
- He authored 211 published opinions, most notably In re American Airlines, Inc., Privacy Litigation (140 citations).
- Birth place: Olney, MD
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Remote appearances
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.
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 ↗
Recording and broadcasting
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.
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 ↗
Published courtroom rules
Shared court rules
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
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 ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
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 ↗ · Collected 2026-10-27Sources
Identity source checked July 25, 2026.
Biography sources checked October 10, 2026.
Federal Judicial Center biography
Identity source · HTML · Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory · effective March 19, 1986 · Source checked July 25, 2026
View Federal Judicial Center biography ↗CourtListener judicial biographical directory
Identity source · HTML · CourtListener / Free Law Project · Source checked August 2, 2026
View CourtListener judicial biographical directory ↗Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court
Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court ↗Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited
Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited ↗