The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia (in case citations, W.D. Va.) is a United States district court.

Appeals from the Western District of Virginia are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for 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 court is seated at multiple locations in Virginia: Abingdon, Charlottesville, Danville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg and Roanoke.

History The United States District Court for the District of Virginia was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, , on September 24, 1789.Asbury Dickens, A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America (1852), p. 388.U.S. District Courts of Virginia, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.

On February 13, 1801, the Judiciary Act of 1801, , divided Virginia into three judicial districts: the District of Virginia, which included the counties west of the Tidewater and south of the Rappahannock River; the District of Norfolk, which included the Tidewater counties south of the Rappahannock; and the District of Potomac, which included the counties north and east of the Rappahannock as well as Maryland counties along the Potomac. Just over a year later, on March 8, 1802, the Judiciary Act of 1801 was repealed and Virginia became a single District again, , effective July 1, 1802.

The District of Virginia was subdivided into Eastern and Western Districts on February 4, 1819, by . At that time, West Virginia, was still part of Virginia, and was encompassed in Virginia's Western District, while the Eastern District essentially covered what is now the entire state of Virginia. With the division of West Virginia from Virginia during the American Civil War, the Western District of Virginia became the District of West Virginia, and those parts of the Western District that were not part of West Virginia were combined with the Eastern District to form again a single District of Virginia on June 11, 1864, by . Congress again divided Virginia into Eastern and the Western Districts on February 3, 1871, by .

Counties of jurisdiction

The Western District of Virginia covers the counties of Albemarle, Alleghany, Amherst, Appomattox, Augusta, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Carroll, Charlotte, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Cumberland, Dickenson, Floyd, Fluvanna, Franklin, Frederick, Giles, Grayson, Greene, Halifax, Henry, Highland, Lee, Louisa, Madison, Montgomery, Nelson, Orange, Page, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Russell, Scott, Shenandoah, Smyth, Tazewell, Warren, Washington, Wise, and Wythe; and the independent cities of Bedford, Bristol, Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Covington, Danville, Galax, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Norton, Radford, Roanoke, Salem, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester.

Current judges :

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

U.S. Attorney and U.S. Marshal

The U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia represents the federal government in the court. the acting United States attorney is Robert Tracci.

The U.S. marshal for the Western District of Virginia is Thomas L. Foster.

Former U.S. attorneys Edwin S. Duncan (1824–1829) William A. Harrison (1829–1834) Washington G. Singleton (1834–1842) William Kinney (1842–1843) Moses C. Good (1843–1846) George H. Lee (1846–1848) George W. Thompson (1848–1850) Benjamin H. Smith (1850–1853) Flaming B. Miller (1853–1861) Thomas W. Harrison (1861) Aquilla B. Caldwell (1861–1862) Benjamin H. Smith (1862) Warren S. Lurty (1877–1882) D.S. Lewis (1882–1885) Henry C. Allen (1885–1889) William E. Craig (1889–1893) A. J. Montague (1893–1898) Thomas M. Alderson (1898–1902) Thomas L. Moore (1902–1910) Barnes Gillespie (1910–1914) Richard E. Byrd (1914–1920) Joseph J. Chitwood (1920–1921) Thomas J. Muncy (1921–1922) Lewis P. Summers (1922–1924) Joseph C. Shaffer (1924–1929) John Paul (1929–1932) Joseph C. Shaffer (1932–1933) Joseph H. Chitwood (1933–1940) Frank S. Tavenner Jr. (1940–1948) Howard C. Gilmer Jr. (1948–1953) John Strickler (1953–1961) Thomas B. Mason (1961–1969) Leigh B. Hanes (1969–1976) Paul R. Thomson Jr. (1976–1980) John S. Edwards (1980–1981) John P. Alderman (1981–1990) E. Montgomery Tucker (1990–1993) Robert P. Crouch Jr. (1993–2001) John L. Brownlee (2001–2008) Timothy J. Heaphy (2009–2015) John P. Fishwick Jr. (2015–2017) Thomas T. Cullen (2018–2020) Daniel P. Bubar (2020–2021; acting) Christopher R. Kavanaugh (2021–2024) Zachary T. Lee (2024–2025; acting) Todd Gilbert (2025; acting) Robert Tracci (2025–; acting)

See also Courts of Virginia List of current United States district judges List of United States federal courthouses in Virginia United States Attorney for the District of Virginia

References

External links United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia Official Website United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Official Website Federal Judicial Center Website - Judges of the W.D. Va. History of Marshals for the Western District of Virginia