The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case c ...

s, W.D.N.C.) is a

federal district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

which covers the western third of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are taken to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

(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 The Tucker Act (March 3, 1887, ch. 359, , ) is a federal statute of the United States by which the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits. The Tucker Act may be divided into the "Big" Tucker A ...

, 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 Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, Alleghany,

Anson Anson may refer to: People * Anson (name), a give name and surname ** Anson family, a British aristocratic family with the surname Place names ;United States * Anson, Indiana * Anson, Kansas * Anson, Maine ** Anson (CDP), Maine * Anson, Missour ...

, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe,

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

, Caldwell,

Catawba Catawba may refer to: *Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas *Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family *Catawban languages Botany *Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other N ...

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, t ...

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 par ...

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

, 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 Haywood may refer to: Places Canada * Haywood, Manitoba United Kingdom * Haywood, Herefordshire * Great Haywood, Staffordshire * Little Haywood, Staffordshire United States * Hayward, California, formerly Haywood * Haywood, Kentucky * 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 * H ...

, Iredell,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, 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 Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missou ...

, Rutherford, Swain,

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 Ap ...

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey. It has jurisdiction over the cities of

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, 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 Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

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 Ar ...

to appoint

Robert P. Dick Robert Paine Dick (October 5, 1823 – September 12, 1898) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Education and career Born on October 5, 1823, in Greensboro, North C ...

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

districts were created in 1872. D. H. Starbuck, who was serving as

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

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 Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

(1897–1914) * William C. Hammer (1914–1920) * Stonewall J. Durham (1920–1921) * Frank A. Linney (1921–1927) *

Thomas J. Harkins Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

(1927–1931) *

Charles A. Jonas Charles Andrew Jonas (August 14, 1876 – May 25, 1955) was an American attorney and politician, serving one term as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from western North Carolina from 1929 to 1931. A Republican, he was ...

(1931–1932) * Frank Caldwell Patton (1932–1933) * Marcus Erwin (1933–1939) * W. Roy Francis (1939–1940) * Theron L. Candle (1940–1945) *

David E. Henderson David Ezekiel Henderson (September 3, 1879 – July 25, 1968) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Education and career Born in Deppe, (an unincorporated community ne ...

(1945–1948) *

Thomas E. Uzzell Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

(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 Gretchen C. F. Shappert is an attorney. She has served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina from 2004 to 2009 and the United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands from 2018 to 2022. Shappert ...

(2004–2009) *Edward R. Ryan (acting; 2009–2010) *

Anne Tompkins Anne Magee Tompkins (born 1962) is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Early life and education Born in Waynesboro, Virginia, Tompkins att ...

(2010–2015) *

Jill Westmoreland Rose Jill is an English feminine given name, a short form of the name Jillian (Gillian), which in turn originates as a Middle English variant of Juliana, the feminine form of the name Julian. People with the given name * Jill Astbury, Australian re ...

(2015–2017) *

R. Andrew Murray R. Andrew Murray is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as the elected District Attorney of Mecklen ...

(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