Ronald Earl Longstaff


Ronald Earl Longstaff is an inactive Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

Education and career

Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, Longstaff received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kansas State College in 1962 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1965. He was a law clerk for Judge Roy L. Stephenson of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa from 1965 to 1967. He was in private practice in Des Moines, Iowa from 1967 to 1968. He was a clerk of the District Court for the Southern District of Iowa from 1968 to 1976, and taught as an adjunct professor at Drake Law School from 1973 to 1976. He was a United States Magistrate for the District Court for the Southern District of Iowa from 1968 to 1991.

Federal judicial service

On July 24, 1991, Longstaff was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa created by 104 Stat. 5089. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31, 1991, and received his commission on November 5, 1991. He served as Chief Judge from 2001 to 2006, assuming senior status on November 5, 2006.