Hala Yalda Jarbou (born 1971) 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.
Education
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.
Career
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.
State judicial service
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. She was sworn in on January 20, 2016. Her service on the state court terminated when she received her judicial commission as a federal judge.
Federal judicial service
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. A hearing on her nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee was held on June 24, 2020. On July 30, 2020, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 18–4 vote. On September 9, 2020, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by an 80–15 vote. On September 10, 2020, her nomination was confirmed by an 83–15 vote. She received her judicial commission on September 23, 2020. She became chief judge on July 18, 2022.
Memberships
Jarbou is a member of the following:
State Bar of Michigan, 1997–present
Michigan Judges Association, 2015–present
Federal Bar Association (Detroit chapter), 2010–present
Oakland County Bar Association, 2015–present
Federalist Society, 2011–present
Personal life
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.