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	Joseph Robert Goodwin
Official site

The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a trial-level federal court. Decisions from the Court may be appealed to the Fourth Circuit Fourth Circuit, except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit. It has facilities in Charleston, Bluefield, Huntington, Beckley and Parkersburg. The current Chief Judge of the District is Judge Joseph R. Goodwin.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
15	Chief Judge	Joseph Robert Goodwin	Charleston	1942	1995–present	2007–present	—	Clinton
10	District Judge	John Thomas Copenhaver Jr.	Charleston	1925	1976–present	—	—	Ford
16	District Judge	Robert Charles Chambers	Huntington	1952	1997–present	—	—	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 District Judge	David A. Faber	Bluefield	1942	1991–2008	2002–2007	2008–present	G.H.W. Bush

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born/Died	Active service	Term as 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

External links

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