On the first day he became the new Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Texas, Amos Mazzant III issued an order that shook up the caseload assignments for the eight judges who serve in that district.
The order, General Order 25-02, gave four additional judges a portion of the cases filed in the Sherman Division. Under the old order, General Order 23-01, Chief Judge Mazzant and Judge Sean Jordan split the civil and criminal cases filed in Sherman 50/50. Now, they will each oversee 33 percent of Sherman criminal and civil cases, while judges Robert W. Schroeder III, Jeremy D. Kernodle, J. Campbell Barker and Michael J. Truncale will each be assigned 8.5 percent of civil and criminal cases filed in Sherman.
The order was issued March 1 and comes after hopes that more federal judges would be added in the Eastern District of Texas were dashed when then-President Joe Biden in December vetoed the Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved, or JUDGES, Act. Under that act, the Eastern District would have seen two judges added over the next four years.
In response to emailed questions, Chief Judge Mazzant told The Texas Lawbook the change was necessary to address the fact that the Sherman Division is the busiest division in the Eastern District. For Judge Schroeder, sitting in Texarkana, and Tyler-based Judges Kernodle and Barker, their new duties in Sherman will require them to make the occasional two-and-a-half-hour trip.
The new assignments seem likely to have the biggest impact on Judge Truncale, who sits in Beaumont, a six-hour drive from Sherman. But he didn’t seem bothered when The Lawbook reached out to him for comment.
“I am delighted to preside over a portion of the civil and criminal docket in the Sherman Division,” he wrote in an email. “Collegiality is the hallmark of the Eastern District of Texas. Our Judges understand that they are appointed to serve throughout the Eastern District of Texas. We will work well together to coordinate our schedules and courtroom availability.”
Michael C. Smith, partner-in-charge of Scheef & Stone’s Marshall office who has practiced primarily in the Eastern District for 32 years, said it’s been apparent for years that something would have to be done to address the heavy caseload in the Sherman Division.
“I thought it was a great response to the problem,” he said of Chief Judge Mazzant’s order. “The four judges who got an additional share of the Sherman docket, what they have in common is their civil docket is relatively small.”
Smith follows legal matters in the Eastern District of Texas closely, and runs two blogs — one focused generally on practicing in the district, and another focused more broadly on covering intellectual property litigation across Texas.
While the new order will require four judges to make somewhat regular trips to Sherman, Smith said that’s not exactly groundbreaking in the Eastern District of Texas. For example, Beaumont-based Judge Marcia Crone has in the past routinely traveled to Sherman to handle criminal cases.
“It is going to mean some travel by the judges, but candidly, I’m nostalgic about that,” Smith said, recalling how, when he was a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Sam B. Hall Jr., he would split time between Marshall and Texarkana.
Smith said he could foresee issues regarding the reservation of courtroom space for trials in Sherman but echoed Judge Truncale’s sentiment about why it’s not a major concern.
“When you have four visiting judges trying to find a place to have trial in Sherman or Plano, that will be a challenge,” he said. “But a characteristic of the Eastern District is that the judges are very collegial. They get along well.”
Below, we share Chief Judge Mazzant’s answers to a handful of questions The Lawbook posed to him regarding the new order.
The Lawbook: What is the primary purpose of the changes in case assignments?
Mazzant: The only difference between the two General Orders is how future Sherman Division civil and criminal cases are assigned. Judge Jordan and I each reduced our percentage to 33% of future civil and criminal filings and Judges Robert Schroeder, Jeremy Kernodle, Michael Truncale, and J. Campbell Barker are splitting 34% of future filings. The Sherman Division is the busiest division in the Eastern District of Texas, having a robust civil and criminal docket, and as I prepared to take over as Chief Judge, I wanted to address the simple fact that Judge Jordan and I need assistance since we have such a heavy docket. My motivation for these changes was the needs of the litigants. I appreciate my colleagues for helping us out in the Sherman Division.
The Lawbook: Can you put into context the weighted caseload of the Sherman Division compared to other divisions in the Eastern District of Texas?
Mazzant: When examining caseloads, the judiciary looks at the total weighted caseload or the weighted filings for each judge. For the Sherman Division, the weighted caseload as of February 28, 2025, was 4,153. For the Marshall Division, the weighted caseload was 2,220. For the Beaumont Division, the weighted caseload was 1,089. For the Tyler Division, the weighted caseload was 919. For Texarkana, the weighted caseload was 607.
The Lawbook: Your order states that all affected judges agreed to these changes. Can you tell me generally what those conversations were like and how receptive your colleagues were to the changes?
Mazzant: As Chief Judge, I am only one among equals and this requires building consensus when addressing court governance. In that vein, I asked my colleagues to help us out in the Sherman Division and they agreed. After the general agreement, we worked on the details. Ultimately, at our judges’ meeting, the new General Order passed unanimously. It was important to me to hit the ground running as Chief Judge to address the needs of the litigants in the Sherman Division. This agreement, over time, will do that. My hope is that cases will move more quickly and allow for speedier dispositions.
The Lawbook: Is there any concern that the changes will result in a lack of courtroom space for trial?
Mazzant: I have no concerns about courtroom space because we have the United States Courthouse Annex located in the Chase Bank Building in Sherman. The Annex has a District Judge courtroom and a District Judge chambers. The Annex also houses Magistrate Judge Aileen Durrett. The Annex space is available for my colleagues, which will require coordination to reserve space, but I do not see that as any problem. In addition, if we are not using our courtrooms, Judge Jordan, Judge Davis, and I have space that can also be used. We are fortunate to have the Annex, which makes it easier to manage multiple judges coming to Sherman for trials or other hearings. As a last resort we can also use the U.S. Bankruptcy court in Plano when it is not being used.
The Lawbook: Were there any other logistical issues you and the other judges discussed and worked through in an effort to ensure the changes are implemented as smoothly as possible?
Mazzant: These changes require a significant amount of coordination with the various judges and the Clerk’s Office. The Clerk’s Office did an amazing job creating the new distribution decks to ensure a random assignment among the district judges. The court also had to address how we distribute cases to the magistrate judges. All of the magistrate judges stepped up to assist with this project. Although having four additional judges taking cases from the Sherman Division would seem to cause some logistical issues, the process has gone very smoothly. I am sure there will be issues that arise as we implement the new General Orders, but I have complete confidence that the court will address these matters as they arise.