The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (except for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

Jurisdiction

The court's jurisdiction comprises the following counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe,

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman Monarchy of Ireland, Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had ...

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Eas ...

, Catawba,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

Gaston Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) *Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) * Gaston ...

Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

, Haywood,

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People * Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * ...

, Iredell, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, McDowell, Mecklenburg,

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, Rutherford,

Swain Swain, Swains or Swain's may refer to: Places * Swain Islands, Antarctica * Swain's Island (Newfoundland and Labrador), Canada * Swains Island, an atoll in the Tokelau chain, American Samoa * Swain County, North Carolina, United States * Swai ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

, Union,

Watauga Watauga can refer to: ;Places * Watauga, Kentucky * Watauga County, North Carolina * Watauga, South Dakota * Watauga, Tennessee * Watauga, Texas ;Bodies of Water * Watauga Lake in Tennessee * The Watauga River in North Carolina and Tennessee ;S ...

, Wilkes and Yancey. It has jurisdiction over the cities of Asheville, Charlotte, Hickory, and Statesville. The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States Attorney is Dena J. King.

History

The

United States District Court for the District of North Carolina The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

was established on June 4, 1790, by .Asbury Dickens, ''A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America'' (1852), p. 389.U.S. District Courts of North Carolina, Legislative history
'' Federal Judicial Center''. On June 9, 1794, it was subdivided into three districts by , but on March 3, 1797, the three districts were abolished and the single District restored by , until April 29, 1802, when the state was again subdivided into three different districts by . In both instances, these districts, unlike those with geographic designations that existed in other states, were titled by the names of the cities in which the courts sat. After the first division, they were styled the District of Edenton, the District of New Bern, and the District of Wilmington; after the second division, they were styled the District of Albemarle, the District of Cape Fear, and the District of Pamptico. However, in both instances, only one judge was authorized to serve all three districts, causing them to effectively operate as a single district. The latter combination was occasionally referred to by the cumbersome title of the United States District Court for the Albemarle, Cape Fear & Pamptico Districts of North Carolina. On June 4, 1872, North Carolina was re-divided into two Districts, Eastern and Western, by . The presiding judge of the District of North Carolina, George Washington Brooks, was then reassigned to preside over only the Eastern District, allowing President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

to appoint Robert P. Dick to be the first judge of the Western District of North Carolina. The Middle District was created from portions of the Eastern and Western Districts on March 2, 1927, by .

Current judges

Vacancies and pending nominations

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

U.S. Attorneys for the Western District

:''The Western and Eastern districts were created in 1872. D. H. Starbuck, who was serving as U.S. Attorney for the entire state, continued in office by serving as Attorney for the Western District.'' * D. H. Starbuck (1870–1876) * Virgil S. Lusk (1876–1880) * James E. Boyd (1880–1885) * Hamilton C. Jones Jr. (1885–1889) * Charles Price (1889–1893) * Robert B. Glenn (1893–1897) * Alfred E. Holton (1897–1914) *

William C. Hammer William Cicero Hammer (March 24, 1865 – September 26, 1930) was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina. Born near Asheboro, North Carolina, Hammer attended private and common schools. He studied at Yadkin Institute and Western Maryland Co ...

(1914–1920) * Stonewall J. Durham (1920–1921) * Frank A. Linney (1921–1927) * Thomas J. Harkins (1927–1931) * Charles A. Jonas (1931–1932) * Frank Caldwell Patton (1932–1933) * Marcus Erwin (1933–1939) * W. Roy Francis (1939–1940) * Theron L. Candle (1940–1945) * David E. Henderson (1945–1948) * Thomas E. Uzzell (1948–1953) * James M. Baley Jr. (1953–1961) *Hugh E. Monteith (1961) * William Medford (1961–1969) * James O. Israel Jr. (1969) * Keith S. Snyder (1969–1977) *Harold M. Edwards (1977–1981) *Harold J. Bender (1981) * Charles R. Brewer (1981–1987) * Thomas J. Ashcraft (1987–1993) *Jerry W. Miller (1993) * Mark T. Calloway (1994–2001) * Robert J. Conrad Jr. (2001–2004) * Gretchen Shappert (2004–2009) *Edward R. Ryan (acting; 2009–2010) * Anne Tompkins (2010–2015) * Jill Westmoreland Rose (2015–2017) * R. Andrew Murray (2017–2021)

References

External links

United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina North Carolina, Western District North Carolina law Asheville, North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Hickory, North Carolina 1872 establishments in North Carolina Courthouses in North Carolina Western North Carolina Courts and tribunals established in 1872