Ralph R. Erickson

On June 7, 2017, President Trump nominated Erickson to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, to the seat vacated by Judge Kermit Edward Bye, who took senior status on April 22, 2015. A hearing on his nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee took place on July 25, 2017. His nomination was reported out of committee by a vote of 20–0 on September 14, 2017. He was confirmed in the United States Senate by a vote of 95–1 on September 28, 2017. He received his judicial commission on October 12, 2017. He is the current chairperson of the United States Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct.

On January 7, 2003, Erickson was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota vacated by Rodney Scott Webb. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 12, 2003, and received his commission on March 14, 2003. He served as chief judge from 2009–2016. His service on the district court terminated on October 13, 2017, upon elevation to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, Erickson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jamestown College in 1980 and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota in 1984. He was in private practice in West Fargo, North Dakota, from 1984 to 1994. He was a magistrate judge for the Cass County Court, North Dakota from 1993 to 1994. He was a county judge for the Traill, Steele, Nelson & Griggs Counties Court, North Dakota in 1994. He was a state district judge for the East Central Judicial District Court, North Dakota from 1995 to 2003.

Ralph Robert Erickson (born April 28, 1959) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.