United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia

United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
(S.D. W. Va.)
Appeals to:	Fourth Circuit
Established:	January 22, 1901
Judges assigned:	5
Chief Judge:	Robert Charles Chambers
http://www.wvsd.uscourts.gov/

The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was established on June 22, 1901.^[1]

The acting United States Attorney for the District is Carol Casto.

Organization of the court

The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia is one of two federal judicial districts in West Virginia.^[2] Court for the Southern District is held at Beckley, Bluefield, Charleston, and Huntington.

Beckley Division comprises the following counties: Greenbrier, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming.

Bluefield Division comprises the following counties: Mercer, McDowell, and Monroe.

Charleston Division comprises the following counties: Boone, Clay, Fayette, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, Nicholas, Roane, Wirt, and Wood.

Huntington Division comprises the following counties: Cabell, Mason, Putnam, and Wayne.

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
16	Chief Judge	Robert Charles Chambers	Huntington	1952	1997–present	2012–present	—	Clinton
10	District Judge	John Thomas Copenhaver Jr.	Charleston	1925	1976–present	—	—	Ford
15	District Judge	Joseph Robert Goodwin	Charleston	1942	1995–present	2007–2012	—	Clinton
17	District Judge	Thomas E. Johnston	Charleston	1967	2006–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
18	District Judge	Irene C. Berger	Beckley	1954	2009–present	—	—	Obama
14	Senior Judge	David A. Faber	Bluefield	1942	1991–2008	2002–2007	2008–present	G.H.W. Bush

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Keller, Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin Keller	WV	1857–1921	1901–1921	—	—	McKinley, McKinley	death
2	McClintic, George WarwickGeorge Warwick McClintic	WV	1866–1942	1921–1941	—	1941–1942	Harding, Harding	death
3	Watkins, Harry EvansHarry Evans Watkins	WV	1898–1963	1937–1963	—	—	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
4	Moore, BenBen Moore	WV	1891–1958	1941–1958	1948–1958	—	Roosevelt, F.F. Roosevelt	death
5	Field Jr., John A.John A. Field Jr.	WV	1910–1995	1959–1971	1959–1971	—	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	reappointment
6	Christie, Sidney LeeSidney Lee Christie	WV	1903–1974	1964–1974	1971–1973	—	Johnson, L.L. Johnson	death
7	Knapp, Dennis RaymondDennis Raymond Knapp	WV	1912–1998	1970–1983	1973–1982	1983–1998	Nixon, Nixon	death
8	Hall, Kenneth KellerKenneth Keller Hall	WV	1918–1999	1971–1976	—	—	Nixon, Nixon	reappointment
9	Haden II, Charles HaroldCharles Harold Haden II	WV	1937–2004	1975–2004	1982–2002	—	Ford, Ford	death
11	Staker, Robert JacksonRobert Jackson Staker	WV	1925–2008	1979–1994	—	1994–2005	Carter, Carter	retirement
12	Kidd, William MatthewWilliam Matthew Kidd	WV	1918–1998	1979–1983	—	—	Carter, Carter	reassignment
13	Hallanan, Elizabeth VirginiaElizabeth Virginia Hallanan	WV	1925–2004	1983–1996	—	1996–2004	Reagan, Reagan	death

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat established on January 22, 1901, by 31 Stat. 736 Keller 1901–1921 Seat abolished on August 8, 1921 (Temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 2 Seat established on June 25, 1921, by 42 Stat. 67 (temporary) Seat became permanent upon the abolishment of Seat 1 on August 8, 1921 McClintic 1921–1941 Moore 1941–1958 Field, Jr. 1959–1971 Hall 1971–1976 Copenhaver, Jr. 1976–present

Seat 3 Seat established on June 22, 1936, by 49 Stat. 1805 (temporary, concurrent with Northern District) Seat made permanent on February 10, 1954 by 68 Stat. 8 Watkins 1937–1963 Christie 1964–1974 Haden II 1975–2004 Seat assigned solely to Southern District on January 14, 1983, by 96 Stat. 2601 Johnston 2006–present

Seat 4 Seat established on June 2, 1970, by 84 Stat. 294 Knapp 1970–1983 Hallanan 1983–1996 Chambers 1997–present

Seat 5 Seat established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629 Staker 1979–1994 Goodwin 1995–present

Seat 6 Seat established on October 20, 1978, by 92 Stat. 1629 (temporary) Kidd 1979–1983 Seat made permanent and reassigned to Northern District on January 14, 1983, by 96 Stat. 2601

Seat 7 Seat established on December 1, 1990, by 104 Stat. 5089 Faber 1991–2008 Berger 2009–present

See also

• Courts of West Virginia
• List of United States federal courthouses in West Virginia

Notes

1. http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/courts_district_wv.html U.S. District Courts of West Virginia, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center
2. 28 U.S.C. § 129

External links

• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
• The United States Attorney's Office Southern District of West Virginia