Charles Randolph Butler Jr.

Butler received a B.A. from Washington and Lee University in 1962 and was in the United States Army Lieutenant, 8th Artillery, 7th Howitzer Battalion from 1962 to 1964. He attended Washington and Lee University School of Law before receiving an LL.B. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1966. He was in private practice in Mobile, Alabama from 1966 to 1969, and was an assistant public defender for Mobile County, Alabama from 1969 to 1970, and then district attorney of Mobile County from 1971 to 1975. He then returned to private practice until 1988.

On April 28, 1988, Butler was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama vacated by Emmett Ripley Cox. Butler was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 14, 1988, and received his commission on October 17, 1988. He served as chief judge from 1994 to 2003, and assumed senior status on March 28, 2005.