United States District Court for the District of Vermont

United States District Court for the District of Vermont
(D. Vt.)
Location	Burlington More locations Rutland Brattleboro Bennington Montpelier Saint Johnsbury Windsor
Appeals to	Second Circuit
Established	March 2, 1791
Judges	2
Chief Judge	Geoffrey W. Crawford
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Christina E. Nolan
www.vtd.uscourts.gov

The United States District Court for the District of Vermont (in case citations, D. Vt.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the federal district of Vermont. The court has locations in Brattleboro, Burlington, and Rutland. The Court was created under the Judiciary Act of 1791 under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Circuit Court. Under the Midnight Judges Act, the Circuits were reorganised and this Court was assigned to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit where it has remained since. Originally created with one Judgeship, in 1966 a second Judgeship was added.

Appeals from the District of Vermont are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current U.S Attorney is Christina E. Nolan.

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
20	Chief Judge	Geoffrey W. Crawford	Rutland	1954	2014–present	2017–present	—	Obama
19	District Judge	Christina Reiss	Burlington	1962	2009–present	2010–2017	—	Obama
17	Senior Judge	John Garvan Murtha	Brattleboro	1941	1995–2009	1995–2002	2009–present	Clinton
18	Senior Judge	William K. Sessions III	Burlington	1947	1995–2014	2002–2010	2014–present	Clinton

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Nathaniel Chipman	VT	1752–1843	1791–1793	—	—	Washington	resignation
2	Samuel Hitchcock	VT	1755–1813	1793–1801	—	—	Washington	appointment to 2d Cir.
3	Elijah Paine	VT	1757–1842	1801–1842	—	—	J. Adams	resignation
4	Samuel Prentiss	VT	1782–1857	1842–1857	—	—	Tyler	death
5	David Allen Smalley	VT	1809–1877	1857–1877	—	—	Pierce	death
6	Hoyt Henry Wheeler	VT	1833–1906	1877–1906	—	—	Hayes	retirement
7	James Loren Martin	VT	1846–1915	1906–1915	—	—	T. Roosevelt	death
8	Harland Bradley Howe	VT	1873–1946	1915–1940	—	1940–1945	Wilson	retirement
9	James Patrick Leamy	VT	1892–1949	1940–1949	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
10	Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.	VT	1901–1969	1949–1969	1966–1969	—	Truman	death
11	Bernard Joseph Leddy	VT	1910–1972	1966–1972	1969–1972	—	L. Johnson	death
12	James L. Oakes	VT	1924–2007	1970–1971	—	—	Nixon	appointment to 2d Cir.
13	James Stuart Holden	VT	1914–1996	1971–1984	1972–1983	1984–1996	Nixon	death
14	Albert Wheeler Coffrin	VT	1919–1993	1972–1989	1983–1988	1989–1993	Nixon	death
15	Franklin S. Billings, Jr.	VT	1922–2014	1984–1994	1988–1991	1994–2014	Reagan	death
16	Fred I. Parker	VT	1938–2003	1990–1994	1991–1994	—	G.H.W. Bush	appointment to 2d Cir.

Chief judges

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their district court. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the district court judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge.

A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats

Seat 1
Seat established on March 2, 1791 by 1 Stat. 197
Chipman	1791–1793
Hitchcock	1793–1801
Paine	1801–1842
Prentiss	1842–1857
Smalley	1857–1877
Wheeler	1877–1906
Martin	1906–1915
Howe	1915–1940
Leamy	1940–1949
Gibson, Jr.	1950–1969
Oakes	1970–1971
Holden	1971–1984
Billings, Jr.	1984–1994
Murtha	1995–2009
Reiss	2009–present

Seat 2
Seat established on March 18, 1966 by 80 Stat. 75
Leddy	1966–1972
Coffrin	1972–1989
Parker	1990–1994
Sessions III	1995–2014
Crawford	2014–present

List of U.S. Attorneys since 1791

• Stephen Jacob, 1791–1797
• Charles Marsh, 1797–1801
• David Fay, 1801–1809
• Cornelius P. Van Ness, 1810–1813
• Titus Hutchinson, 1813–1821
• William A. Griswold, 1821–1829
• Daniel Kellogg, 1829–1841
• Charles Davis, 1841–1845
• Charles Linsley, 1845–1849
• Abel Underwood, 1849–1853
• Lucius B. Peck, 1853–1857
• Henry E. Stoughton, 1857–1860
• George Howe, 1861–1864
• Dudley C. Denison, 1864–1869
• Benjamin F. Fifield 1869–1880
• Kittredge Haskins, 1880–1887
• Clarence H. Pitkin, 1887–1889
• Frank Plumley, 1889–1894
• John H. Senter, 1894–1898
• James L. Martin, 1896–1906
• Alexander Dunnett, 1906–1915
• Vernon A. Bullard, 1915–1923
• Harry B. Amey, 1923–1933
• Joseph A. McNamara, 1933–1953
• Louis G. Whitcomb, 1953–1961
• Joseph Radigan, 1961–1969
• George Cook, 1969–1977
• William Gray, 1977–1981
• Jerome O'Neill, 1981
• George Cook, 1981–1987
• George J. Terwilliger III, 1987–1991
• Charles Caruso, 1991–1993
• Charles Tetzlaff, 1993–2001
• Peter Hall, 2001–2004
• David Kirby, 2005–2006
• Tom Anderson, 2006–2009
• Tristram J. Coffin, 2009–2015
• Eric Miller, 2015–2017
• Christina Nolan, 2017–

See also

• Courts of Vermont
• List of United States federal courthouses in Vermont

External links

• Official website
• United States Attorney for the District of Vermont Official Website