Richard Bilby

Richard Mansfield Bilby (May 29, 1931 – August 11, 1998) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

Born on May 29, 1931, in Tucson, Arizona, Bilby served in the United States Army as a Corporal from 1952 to 1954. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955 from the University of Arizona and a Juris Doctor in 1958 from the University of Michigan Law School. He was a law clerk for Judge Richard Harvey Chambers of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1958 to 1959. He was in private practice in Tucson from 1959 to 1979.

Bilby was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to a seat being vacated by Judge Richard Harvey Chambers, by President Gerald Ford on August 3, 1976. However, the Senate never voted on his nomination and it expired with the end of the Congressional session.

Bilby was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on June 5, 1979, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona vacated by Judge William C. Frey. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1979, and received his commission on September 26, 1979. He served as Chief Judge from 1984 to 1990. He assumed senior status on May 29, 1996. His service terminated on August 11, 1998, due to his death.

While a judge, Bilby probably was most known for having presided over the 1992 case against Charles Keating.

A lifelong resident of Tucson, Bilby died on August 11, 1998, while walking his dog near his summer home in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Bilby was survived by his wife, Elizabeth Thomas Bilby, and two daughters from a previous marriage that ended in divorce. Bilby's brother, Kenneth W. Bilby, was an executive vice president at RCA for many years.