| Hala Y. Jarbou | |
| Office: | Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan |
| Term Start: | July 18, 2022 |
| Predecessor: | Robert James Jonker |
| Office1: | Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan |
| Term Start1: | September 23, 2020 |
| Appointer1: | Donald Trump |
| Predecessor1: | Robert Holmes Bell |
| Office2: | Judge of the 6th Circuit Court of Michigan |
| Appointer2: | Rick Snyder |
| Term Start2: | October 20, 2015 |
| Term End2: | September 23, 2020 |
| Predecessor2: | Colleen O'Brien |
| Successor2: | Yasmine I. Poles |
| Birth Place: | Tel Kaif, Iraq |
| Education: | University of Michigan–Dearborn (BBA) Wayne State University (JD) |
Hala Yalda Jarbou (born 1971)[1] is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. She is the first Chaldean federal judge.[2]
Jarbou earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan–Dearborn, with high distinction, and her Juris Doctor from the Wayne State University Law School.[3]
After graduating from law school, Jarbou served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, where she prosecuted general felony offenses, homicides, child sexual assault, and high-profile felony cases. In 2010, she became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, where she prosecuted cases involving drug and firearms offenses, child pornography, and high-level drug trafficking. She was an associate professor of the Paralegal Program at Oakland University from April–July 2005.[4]
On October 20, 2015, Jarbou was appointed to be a judge on the Oakland County Circuit Court by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to the vacancy left by Judge Colleen O'Brien, who was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals.[5] She was sworn in on January 20, 2016.[6] Her service on the state court terminated when she received her judicial commission as a federal judge.
On March 11, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Jarbou to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. On March 18, 2020, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Jarbou to the seat vacated by Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who assumed senior status on January 31, 2017.[7] A hearing on her nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee was held on June 24, 2020.[8] On July 30, 2020, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 18–4 vote.[9] On September 9, 2020, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by an 80–15 vote.[10] On September 10, 2020, her nomination was confirmed by an 83–15 vote.[11] She received her judicial commission on September 23, 2020. She became chief judge on July 18, 2022.
Jarbou is a member of the following:
Jarbou was born in 1971 in Tel Keppe (Tel Kaif), Iraq and now resides in West Bloomfield. She is an ethnic Assyrian and belongs to the Chaldean Catholic denomination.[12]
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