--- title: "Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Jr. | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephen-n-limbaugh-jr" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-08-02" --- # Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Jr. U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - State: Missouri - 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 - Judge, District Court, E.D. Missouri, 2008-present - Assistant prosecutor, Cape Girardeau County, MO, 1978-present - Supreme Court of Missouri (1992–2008): Appointed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, served until his federal appointment - Chief Justice of Missouri (2001–2003): Served one term as the state’s chief justice - Judge, Circuit Court of Missouri, Thirty-Second Judicial Circuit, 1987-1992 - Circuit Judge (1987–1992): Judge for the 32nd Judicial Circuit of Missouri - Prosecutor, Cape Girardeau County, MO, 1979-1982 - Limbaugh serves as the resident district judge in the Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri ### Education - Southern Methodist University — J.D. (1976) - Southern Methodist University — B.A. (1973) - University of Virginia School of Law ### Additional information - Practitioner, 1991-1991 - prof, 1991-1991 - Private practice, Cape Girardeau, MO, 1983-1987 - Private practice, Cape Girardeau, MO, 1977-1978 - Date of birth: 1952-01-25 - Official court page: Eastern District of Missouri – Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. - United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - Dedman School of Law - Birth place: Cape Girardeau, MO ## 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: Telephonic Interpretation for non- English speaking participants . Table interface at the attorney tables to allow connection of laptops for displaying digital documents, video, etc. through the Courtroom multimedia system. [Courtroom Technology | Eastern District of Missouri | United States District Court](https://www.moed.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology) 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/1392721) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392721) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1392721) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1934/stephen-nathaniel-limbaugh-jr/) - [Courtroom Technology | Eastern District of Missouri | United States District Court](https://www.moed.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technology) - [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/1934/stephen-nathaniel-limbaugh-jr/) - [Wikidata: Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr.](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7610073) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephen-n-limbaugh-jr", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephen-n-limbaugh-jr", "name": "Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Jr. | KnowJudges", "description": "Stephen Nathaniel Limbaugh Jr., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. 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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.