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U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Virginia and the District of Potomac: Authorized Judgeships

Below are tables showing authorized positions for U.S. district judges, U.S. bankruptcy judges, and U.S. magistrate judges. While district and bankruptcy judgeships are authorized by congressional statute, magistrate judgeships are authorized by the Judicial Conference of the United States. For more detail regarding the authorization of these judgeships, see the Legislative History and Succession Chart(s) pages for each district court (see menu at right), Authorized Bankruptcy Judgeships, Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by location), and Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by fiscal year).

Authorized District Judgeships

 
Virginia
District
Norfolk
District
Potomac
District
Eastern
District
Western
District
Total
Judgeships
September 24, 1789
1 Stat. 73
1
 
 
 
 
1
February 13, 1801
2 Stat. 89
1
1
1
 
 
2
March 8, 1802 (effective July 1, 1802)
2 Stat. 132
1
 
 
 
 
1
February 4, 1819
3 Stat. 478
 
 
 
1
1
2
June 11, 1864
13 Stat. 124
1
 
 
 
 
1
February 3, 1871
16 Stat. 403
 
 
 
1
1
2
August 2, 1935
49 Stat. 508
 
 
 
2
1
3
May 31, 1938
52 Stat. 584
 
 
 
2
2
4
February 10, 1954
68 Stat. 8
 
 
 
3
2
5
March 18, 1966
80 Stat. 75
 
 
 
5
2
7
September 2, 1957 (effective November 6, 1967)
71 Stat. 586
     
5
3
8
June 2, 1970
84 Stat. 294
 
 
 
6
3
9
April 9, 1973
Temporary judgeship expired
     
6
2
8
October 20, 1978
92 Stat. 1629
 
 
 
8
4
12
July 10, 1984
98 Stat. 333
 
 
 
9
4
13
December 1, 1990
104 Stat. 5089
 
 
 
10
4
14
December 21, 2000
114 Stat. 2762
 
 
 
11
4
15

 

Authorized Bankruptcy Judgeships

  Eastern
District
Western
District
Total
Judgeships
July 10, 1984
98 Stat. 336
3 3 6
October 27, 1986
100 Stat. 3088
4 3 7
August 26, 1992
106 Stat. 965
5 3 8
April 20, 2005
119 Stat. 196
6
(5 + 1 temporary)
3 9
(8 + 1 temporary)

 

Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by location)

Eastern District 
Location Full-Time Part-Time
Alexandria 1 (1971–1974)
2 (1975–1978)
3 (1979–1995)
4 (1996–present)
1 (1971–1974)
Chesterfield Courthouse   1 (1974)
Newport News 1 (1988–2002)  
Newport News or Norfolk 3 (2003–present)  
Norfolk 1 (1971–1978)
2 (1979–2002)
 
Petersburg   1 (1971–1973)
Richmond 1 (1975–1999)
2 (2000–present)
1 (1971–1999)
Williamsburg 1 (1982–1987) 1 (1973–1981)
Total 2 (1971–1974)
4 (1975–1978)
6 (1979–1981)
7 (1982–1995)
8 (1996–1999)
9 (2000–present)
3 (1971–1972)
4 (1973–1974)
2 (1975–1981)
1 (1982–1999)
0 (2000–present)
Western District 
Location Full-Time Part-Time Combination
Abingdon 1 (1977–1978)
0 (1979–1981)
1 (1982–present)
1 (1979–1981)  
Bristol   1 (1971–1976)  
Charlottesville 1 (1979–2014) 1 (1971–1978)
0 (1979–2014)
1 (2015–2019)
 
Charlottesville or Harrisonburg 1 (2020–present) 1 (2020–present)  
Christiansburg   1 (1972–1975)  
Cumberland Gap National Park   1 (1971–1975)  
Danville   1 (1971–1981)  
Galax   1 (1971–1976)  
Harrisonburg 1 (2015–2019) 1 (2005–2014) bankruptcy judge-magistrate
1 (1971)
Lexington   1 (1972–1975)  
Lynchburg   1 (1971–1981)  
Martinsville   1 (1972–1975)  
Roanoke 1 (1976–present) 1 (1971–1975)  
Rocky Mount   1 (1972–1975)  
Shenandoah National Park   1 (1971–1981)  
Staunton   1 (1972–1979)  
Winchester   1 (1971–1984)  
Wise   1 (1972–1976)  
Total 0 (1971–1975)
1 (1976)
2 (1977–1981)
3 (1982–present)
9 (1971)
15 (1972–1975)
9 (1976)
6 (1977–1979)
5 (1980–1981)
1 (1982–1984)
0 (1985–2004)
1 (2005–present)
1 (1971)
0 (1972–present)

 

Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by fiscal year)

Eastern District 
Fiscal Year(s) Full-Time Total Part-Time Total
1971–1972 Alexandria, Norfolk 2 Alexandria, Petersburg, Richmond 3
1973 Alexandria, Norfolk 2 Alexandria, Petersburg, Richmond, Williamsburg 4
1974 Alexandria, Norfolk 2 Alexandria, Chesterfield Courthouse, Richmond, Williamsburg 4
1975–1978 Alexandria (2), Norfolk, Richmond 4 Richmond, Williamsburg 2
1979–1981 Alexandria (3), Norfolk (2), Richmond 6 Richmond, Williamsburg 2
1982–1987 Alexandria (3), Norfolk (2), Richmond, Williamsburg 7 Richmond 1
1988–1995 Alexandria (3), Newport News, Norfolk (2), Richmond 7 Richmond 1
1996–1999 Alexandria (4), Newport News, Norfolk (2), Richmond 8 Richmond 1
2000–2002 Alexandria (4), Newport News, Norfolk (2), Richmond (2) 9   0
2003–present Alexandria (4), Newport News or Norfolk (3), Richmond (2) 9   0
Western District 
Fiscal Year(s) Full-Time Total Part-Time Total Combination Total
1971   0 Bristol, Charlottesville, Cumberland Gap National Park, Danville, Galax, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Shenandoah National Park, Winchester 9 Harrisonburg (bankruptcy judge-magistrate) 1
1972–1975   0 Bristol, Charlottesville, Christiansburg, Cumberland Gap National Park, Danville, Galax, Lexington, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Roanoke, Rocky Mount, Shenandoah National Park, Staunton, Winchester, Wise 15   0
1976 Roanoke 1 Bristol, Charlottesville, Danville, Galax, Lynchburg, Shenandoah National Park, Staunton, Winchester, Wise 9   0
1977–1978 Abingdon, Roanoke 2 Charlottesville, Danville, Lynchburg, Shenandoah National Park, Staunton, Winchester 6   0
1979 Charlottesville, Roanoke 2 Abingdon, Danville, Lynchburg, Shenandoah National Park, Staunton, Winchester 6   0
1980–1981 Charlottesville, Roanoke 2 Abingdon, Danville, Lynchburg, Shenandoah National Park, Winchester 5   0
1982–1984 Abingdon, Charlottesville, Roanoke 3 Winchester 1   0
1985–2004 Abingdon, Charlottesville, Roanoke 3   0   0
2005–2014 Abingdon, Charlottesville, Roanoke 3 Harrisonburg 1   0
2015–2019 Abingdon, Harrisonburg, Roanoke 3 Charlottesville 1   0
2020–present Abingdon, Charlottesville or Harrisonburg, Roanoke 3 Charlottesville or Harrisonburg 1   0

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