 Judge Payne served as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma from 2002 to 2017.On September 25, 2005, President Bush nominated Judge Payne to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacated by Judge Stephanie Kulp Seymour, who took senior status on October 16, 2005.On January 23, 2006, Will Evans of the Center for Investigative Reporting published an article in the online magazine Salon.com reporting that Judge Payne "had issued more than 100 orders in at least 18 cases that involved corporations in which he owned stock", according to review of court and financial records.