U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Fourth Circuit, which reviews its decisions on appeal. This page lists every judge to serve on the court, current and former, with who appointed them and whom they succeeded.
| Judge | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. | Ford (R) | 1976 |
| David A. Faber | Bush (R) | 1991 |
| Joseph Robert Goodwin | Clinton (D) | 1995 |
| Robert Charles Chambers | Clinton (D) | 1997 |
| Thomas E. Johnston | Bush (R) | 2006 |
| Irene Cornelia Berger | Obama (D) | 2009 |
| Frank William Volk | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Virginia Hallanan | Reagan (R) | 1983–2004 |
| William Matthew Kidd | Carter (D) | 1979–1983 |
| Robert Jackson Staker | Carter (D) | 1979–2005 |
| Charles Harold Haden II | Ford (R) | 1975–2004 |
| Kenneth Keller Hall | Nixon (R) | 1971–1976 |
| Dennis Raymond Knapp | Nixon (R) | 1970–1998 |
| Sidney Lee Christie | Johnson (D) | 1964–1974 |
| John A. Field Jr. | Eisenhower (R) | 1959–1971 |
| Ben Moore | Roosevelt (D) | 1941–1958 |
| Harry Evans Watkins | Roosevelt (D) | 1937–1963 |
| George Warwick McClintic | Harding (R) | 1921–1942 |
| Benjamin Franklin Keller | McKinley (R) | 1901–1921 |
How a judge gets here. Each judge is nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, then holds a numbered seat, for life, until they take senior status, or until they leave the bench. Open any judge to see who appointed them, how the Senate voted, and whom they succeeded, a chain that runs back to 1901.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.