William Matthew Kidd
Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and confirmed by voice vote, William Matthew Kidd was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. He earned a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1950. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1918–1998
- Appointed by
- Jimmy Carter, 1979
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- West Virginia College of Law 1950
- Succeeded by
- Frederick Pfarr Stamp Jr.
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Southern District of West Virginia | Carter (D) | Voice vote |
| 1983 | Northern District of West Virginia | Reassigned | – |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Kidd was assigned 291 district-court cases (1978–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 99 days across 291 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
In our data, Kidd authored 34 published opinions for the court (1980–1997). Most cited: Harman v. Pauley (23 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Harman v. Pauley | 522 F. Supp. 1130 | 23 |
| 1983 | Graham v. Heckler | 573 F. Supp. 1573 | 17 |
| 1980 | Belcher v. J. H. Fletcher & Co. | 498 F. Supp. 629 | 14 |
| 1991 | Liberty Mutual Insurance v. Triangle Industries, Inc. | 765 F. Supp. 881 | 12 |
| 1990 | Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Shambaugh | 747 F. Supp. 1203 | 11 |
| 1984 | Nedley v. Consolidation Coal Co. | 578 F. Supp. 1528 | 11 |
| 1997 | Pelissero v. Thompson | 955 F. Supp. 634 | 9 |
| 1981 | Anziulewicz v. Bluefield Community Hospital, Inc. | 531 F. Supp. 49 | 9 |
| 1987 | Arbogast v. CSX Corp. | 655 F. Supp. 371 | 7 |
| 1982 | Griggs v. Schweiker | 545 F. Supp. 475 | 7 |
| 1980 | Beggs v. Mullins | 499 F. Supp. 916 | 7 |
| 1987 | Transamerica Insurance v. Arbogast | 662 F. Supp. 164 | 6 |
| 1987 | Rinehart v. Consolidation Coal Co. | 660 F. Supp. 1140 | 6 |
| 1984 | Estep v. Chemetals Corp. | 580 F. Supp. 254 | 6 |
| 1997 | Fonner v. Thompson | 955 F. Supp. 638 | 5 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 34 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed William Matthew Kidd?
- President Jimmy Carter appointed William Matthew Kidd to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 1979.
- Was William Matthew Kidd appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- William Matthew Kidd was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was William Matthew Kidd's confirmation vote?
- William Matthew Kidd was confirmed by voice vote on December 20, 1979. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was William Matthew Kidd on?
- William Matthew Kidd was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
15 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).