JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPOINTS BROTHER JUDGE RODNEY HOLMES U. S. MAGISTRATE

Congratulations to the Honorable Brother Judge Rodney H. Holmes, for his appointment as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. Brother Judge Holmes was sworn into office on February 6, 2023, and is the first African American man appointed to the judicial bench as a United States Magistrate Judge.

Brother Judge Holmes is a native of East St. Louis, Illinois, and a 1985 graduate of East St. Louis Senior High School. He earned his undergraduate degree at Lincoln University in Missouri, while on an academic scholarship. A talented student-athlete, he was a member of the university’s baseball team, and played with the jazz ensemble and marching band. While at the University Brother Judge Holmes crossed the burning sands into the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. at Eta Sigma Chapter in the Fall of 1986.

Brother Judge Holmes received his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. He began his legal career working in the Federal Public Defender’s (FPD) Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. He worked five years with the FPD office prior to joining the Assistant United States Attorney’s (AUSA) Office. He later joined the Cochran Firm, and worked there for 3 years, before starting his own private practice, where he worked from 2004 –2015, managing a variety of legal matters, including federal criminal cases as a member of the Court’s Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel. In 2015, Brother Judge Holmes returned to the Assistant United States Attorney’s Office where he served as Chief of the Violent Crime Unit, and Project Safe Neighborhood Coordinator.

An avid baseball player and enthusiast, Brother Judge Holmes played semi-pro baseball from 1992 -2007 for the East St. Louis Colts and the St. Louis Wildcats. As a result, Brother Judge Holmes is a recent inductee into the National Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2020. He is a life member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and an active member of Nu Chi Chapter in East St. Louis IL.