The Honorable William D. Stiehl Sr., Retired District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.  Greater East St. Louis Community Fund,  Honorary Judge Emeritus and Founding Judge  – Serving from 1991 – 2016.  

The Honorable William D. Stiehl Sr., a one-time Navy Lieutenant, Judge Stiehl earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. He worked in private practice and later worked as an Assistant States Attorney as well as an Assistant to the Attorney General for the State of Illinois. In 1986, he became a United States District Judge in the Southern District of Illinois, when President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the post and the United States Senate confirmed his nomination. Judge Stiehl served as Chief Justice in the Southern District of Illinois. He served on the bench until his retirement in 2016.

The Honorable Donald G. Wilkerson, Magistrate Judge, Retired United States District Court for the Southern
District of Illinois, Greater East St. Louis Community Fund Judge Emeritus serving from 2016 – 2020.

The Honorable Donald E. Wilkerson grew up in East St. Louis where he taught and coached in the East St. Louis Public Schools for 17 years. He earned his B.S. degree from Illinois State University, a Master of Education degree from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and he graduated cum laude from St. Louis University School of Law.  Judge Wilkerson served for 15 years as a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, until his retirement in 2020.

Prior to serving as a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Attorney Wilkerson served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Missouri, practicing in the areas of economic crime, child exploitation, civil rights, and violent crime. In this capacity, he successfully argued matters before panels of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the Eighth Circuit Court en banc.

The Honorable Nancy J. Rosenstengel, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.  Appointed 2020 – current.

The Honorable Nancy J. Rosenstengel is the Chief United States District Judge in the Southern District of Illinois. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1990 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Juris Doctorate, cum laude, in 1993 from Southern Illinois University School of Law. Before joining the bench, she was a member of the Illinois and Missouri bars, practicing litigation in state and federal courts in St. Louis, Missouri. She later served as a career law clerk to United States District Judge G. Patrick Murphy, and as Clerk of Court in the Southern District of Illinois, a high-level administrative position.

On November 7, 2013, President Obama nominated Rosenstengel to serve as a United States District Judge. Rosenstengel is the first female district judge to serve in the Southern District of Illinois (and also was the first female to serve as Clerk of Court). In April 2019, Rosenstengel became Chief Judge for the Southern District of Illinois. She is the Past President of the local chapter of the Federal Bar Association and serves on several committees for the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals.