Martin Donald Van Oosterhout

Martin Donald Van Oosterhout (October 10, 1900 – January 28, 1979) was a legislator and state court judge in northwestern Iowa, and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Education and career

Born in Orange City, Iowa, Van Oosterhout received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1922, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1924. He was in private practice in Orange City from 1924 to 1933. In the last four of those years (from 1929 to 1933) he also served as a Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives.

Federal judicial service

On August 16, 1954, Van Oosterhout was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated when a fellow Iowan, Judge Seth Thomas, assumed senior status. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 20, 1954, and received his commission on August 26, 1954. He served as Chief Judge and member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1968 to 1970. He assumed senior status on July 6, 1971. He was a Judge of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1972 to 1977. He served in senior status until his death on January 28, 1979.