LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A U.S. magistrate from Arkansas will become the newest member of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis.

Bobby Shepherd's nomination was confirmed on a voice vote Thursday by the U.S. Senate in Washington. Shepherd, will join a court that hears appeals from U.S. district courts in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., on Thursday praised Shepherd as a "rare find" for a judicial nominee because there has been no controversy or opposition about the magistrate.

"I know he will serve this court with distinction and integrity," Pryor said after Thursday's vote.

President Bush nominated Shepherd in May. Shepherd replaces U.S. Circuit Judge Morris Arnold, who is taking senior status.

Speaking in the Senate before the confirmation vote, Pryor praised Shepherd for finding ways to "unclog" the court system by finding resolutions among parties beforehand.

"He prides himself on being able to work out the litigation between or among the parties before the necessity of a trial," Pryor said.

Shepherd, of El Dorado, has been a magistrate for the Western District of Arkansas for nearly 13 years after serving as a state circuit-chancery judge. He graduated from Ouachita Baptist University and received his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

He served in the Army Reserve from 1973 to 1981.

Shepherd's confirmation makes him only the second person to jump from magistrate to appeals judge, skipping the district court level, according to the federal courts' administrative office.

In 1998, Barry G. Silverman jumped from magistrate judge in Arizona to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and, in 1999, former U.S. Magistrate Charles R. Wilson became a judge on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Wilson was a U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida between his judicial posts.