Steven Michael Colloton (born January 9, 1963) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He was appointed to the Eighth Circuit in 2003 by President George W. Bush and has been its chief judge since 2024. He previously served from 2000 to 2003 as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa.
Steven M. Colloton
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Born 1963 in Iowa City, IA
FJC ID: 3024
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 35/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 429/year
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals · 2003–
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 2024–present
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa2001–2003- Private practice, Iowa1999–2001
Adjunct lecturer · 2000- Northern District of IowaAssistant U.S. attorney · 1991–1999
- Whitewater investigationAssociate independent counsel · 1995–1996
- Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of JusticeSpecial assistant to the assistant attorney general · 1990–1991
Law clerk , Hon. William H. Rehnquist · 1989–1990
Law clerk , Hon. Laurence H. Silberman · 1988–1989
Appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth CircuitChief Judge2003–present · Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican)
Education
J.D. · 1988- Princeton UniversityA.B. · 1985