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).
Further explanation is provided on this page where the numbers of U.S. district court judgeships for each district do not add up to the total number of such judgeships for the state. This situation occurred when Congress authorized a single judgeship to serve more than one judicial district.
Authorized District Judgeships |
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|
West Virginia
District |
Northern
District |
Southern
District |
Total
Judgeships |
|
| June 11, 1864 13 Stat. 124 |
1
|
1
|
||
| January 22, 1901 31 Stat. 736 |
1
|
1
|
2
|
|
| June 25, 1921 42 Stat. 67 |
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
|
August 8, 1921
Temporary judgeship expired |
1
|
1
|
2
|
|
| June 22, 1936 49 Stat. 1805 (authorized a single new judgeship for the Northern and Southern Districts) |
2
|
2
|
3
|
|
| June 2, 1970 84 Stat. 294 |
2
|
3
|
4
|
|
| October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 |
2
|
5
|
6
|
|
| January 14, 1983 96 Stat. 2601 (assigned the 1936 judgeship to the Southern District exclusively and transferred a judgeship from the Southern District to the Northern District) |
2
|
4
|
6
|
|
| December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 |
3
|
5
|
8
|
|
Authorized Bankruptcy Judgeships |
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| Northern District |
Southern District |
Total Judgeships |
|
| July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 336 |
1 | 1 | 2 |
Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by location) |
||
| Northern District | ||
| Location | Full-Time | Part-Time |
| Clarksburg or Elkins | 1 (2002–present) | |
| Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown | 1 (1971–2001) | |
| Elkins | 1 (1972–2001) | 1 (1971) |
| Martinsburg | 1 (2009–present) | 1 (1971–1975) 0 (1976–1979) 1 (1980–1984) 0 (1985–2001) 1 (2002–2008) |
| Parkersburg* | 1 (1971–1975) 0 (1976) 1 (1977–1983) |
|
| Wheeling | 1 (1999–present) | 1 (1971–1998) |
| Total | 0 (1971) 1 (1972–1998) 2 (1999–2008) 3 (2009–present) |
5 (1971) 4 (1972–1975) 2 (1976) 3 (1977–1979) 4 (1980–1983) 3 (1984) 2 (1985–1998) 1 (1999–2008) 0 (2009–present) |
| *The magistrate judgeship at Parkersburg was transferred from the Northern District of West Virginia to the Southern District of West Virginia when the district borders were altered in 1983. | ||
| Southern District | ||
| Location | Full-Time | Part-Time |
| Beckley | 1 (1971–1975) | |
| Beckley or Bluefield | 1 (1992–present) | 1 (1985–1991) |
| Bluefield | 1 (1971–1984) | |
| Charleston | 1 (1972–present) | 1 (1971) |
| Huntington | 1 (1977–present) | 1 (1971–1976) |
| Lewisburg | 1 (1971–1984) | |
| Logan | 1 (1971–1983) | |
| Parkersburg* | 1 (1984) | |
| Welch | 1 (1971–1975) | |
| Total | 0 (1971) 1 (1972–1976) 2 (1977–1991) 3 (1992–present) |
7 (1971) 6 (1972–1975) 4 (1976) 3 (1977–1984) 1 (1985–1991) 0 (1992–present) |
| *The magistrate judgeship at Parkersburg was transferred from the Northern District of West Virginia to the Southern District of West Virginia when the district borders were altered in 1983. | ||
Authorized Magistrate Judgeships (by fiscal year) |
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| Northern District | ||||
| Fiscal Year(s) | Full-Time | Total | Part-Time | Total |
| 1971 | 0 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown, Elkins, Martinsburg, Parkersburg, Wheeling | 5 | |
| 1972–1975 | Elkins | 1 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown, Martinsburg, Parkersburg, Wheeling | 4 |
| 1976 | Elkins | 1 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown, Wheeling | 2 |
| 1977–1979 | Elkins | 1 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown, Parkersburg, Wheeling | 3 |
| 1980–1983 | Elkins | 1 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown, Martinsburg, Parkersburg*, Wheeling | 4 |
| 1984 | Elkins | 1 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown, Martinsburg, Wheeling | 3 |
| 1985–1998 | Elkins | 1 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown, Wheeling | 2 |
| 1999–2001 | Elkins, Wheeling | 2 | Clarksburg or Fairmont or Morgantown | 1 |
| 2002–2008 | Clarksburg or Elkins, Wheeling | 2 | Martinsburg | 1 |
| 2009–present | Clarksburg or Elkins, Martinsburg, Wheeling | 3 | 0 | |
| *The magistrate judgeship at Parkersburg was transferred from the Northern District of West Virginia to the Southern District of West Virginia when the district borders were altered in 1983. | ||||
| Southern District | ||||
| Fiscal Year(s) | Full-Time | Total | Part-Time | Total |
| 1971 | 0 | Beckley, Bluefield, Charleston, Huntington, Lewisburg, Logan, Welch | 7 | |
| 1972–1975 | Charleston | 1 | Beckley, Bluefield, Huntington, Lewisburg, Logan, Welch | 6 |
| 1976 | Charleston | 1 | Bluefield, Huntington, Lewisburg, Logan | 4 |
| 1977–1983 | Charleston, Huntington | 2 | Bluefield, Lewisburg, Logan | 3 |
| 1984 | Charleston, Huntington | 2 | Bluefield, Lewisburg, Parkersburg* | 3 |
| 1985–1991 | Charleston, Huntington | 2 | Beckley or Bluefield | 1 |
| 1992–present | Beckley or Bluefield, Charleston, Huntington | 3 | 0 | |
| *The magistrate judgeship at Parkersburg was transferred from the Northern District of West Virginia to the Southern District of West Virginia when the district borders were altered in 1983. | ||||