DALLAS (Associated Press) - Retired U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, who spent nearly 30 years on the federal bench and presided over a Dallas housing discrimination case, died Monday. He was 76.

Buchmeyer, who had been in declining health, died in a San Marcos nursing home, his son Jon Paul Buchmeyer said by phone Tuesday.

Jerry Buchmeyer was perhaps best-known for his handling of a 1985 lawsuit against the Dallas Housing Authority that many say helped desegregate public housing. The case, brought by seven black women over living conditions at a West Dallas housing project, led to thousands of low-income black families moving into predominantly white neighborhoods with the help of government rent vouchers.

In another ruling, Buchmeyer struck down the Dallas County City Council election system, saying it diluted minority power. Roy Williams, a co-plaintiff in that case, told The Dallas Morning News that the judge was a courageous, fair man.

Buchmeyer, born in Overton, earned an associate degree from Kilgore College in 1953. He earned bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin in 1956 and 1957, joining the Dallas law firm of Thompson and Knight in 1958.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Buchmeyer to the federal bench. He was chief judge of the Northern District of Texas from 1995 to 2001. He assumed senior status in 2003 and stepped down to inactive status in 2008.