District Court · Fourth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina
The federal trial court. Juries sit here, evidence is heard here, and almost every federal case begins here.
The bench
Who sits on this court?
Judges in active service, when they were confirmed, and who nominated each.
| Judge | Since | Nominated by | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Lesley Voorhees Senior | 1988 | Ronald Reagan | NCWD0304 |
| Graham Calder Mullen Senior | 1990 | George H.W. Bush | NCWD0205 |
| Frank DeArmon Whitney Senior | 2006 | George W. Bush | NCWD0502 |
| Martin Karl Reidinger | 2007 | George W. Bush | NCWD0206 |
| Max Oliver Cogburn Jr. | 2011 | Barack Obama | NCWD0403 |
| Kenneth Davis Bell Sr. | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | NCWD0305 |
| Matthew Emile Orso | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | NCWD0602 |
| Susan Courtwright Rodriguez | 2025 | Donald J. Trump | NCWD0503 |
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
What seats does this court have?
Each seat on this court, who holds it, and how many judges have held it before.
- Judges seated now
- 8
- Seat numbers on record
- 23
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCWD0205 | Graham Calder Mullen | 1990 | 1 |
| NCWD0206 | Martin Karl Reidinger | 2007 | 1 |
| NCWD0304 | Richard Lesley Voorhees | 1988 | 1 |
| NCWD0305 | Kenneth Davis Bell Sr. | 2019 | 1 |
| NCWD0403 | Max Oliver Cogburn Jr. | 2011 | 1 |
| NCWD0502 | Frank DeArmon Whitney | 2006 | 1 |
| NCWD0503 | Susan Courtwright Rodriguez | 2025 | 1 |
| NCWD0602 | Matthew Emile Orso | 2025 | 1 |
15 seat numbers with no sitting judge
These are seat numbers in the historical record with nobody currently in them. That usually means the seat was abolished or renumbered, not that it is open today — Congress has changed the size of federal courts many times. Do not read this as a vacancy list.
| Seat | Last held by | Until | Holders |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCWD0101 | Robert Paine Dick | 1898 | 1 |
| NCWD0102 | Hamilton Glover Ewart | 1899 | 1 |
| NCWD0103 | Hamilton Glover Ewart | 1900 | 1 |
| NCWD0104 | James Edmund Boyd | 1935 | 1 |
| NCWD0201 | Edwin Yates Webb | 1955 | 1 |
| NCWD0202 | David Ezekiel Henderson | 1949 | 1 |
| NCWD0203 | Wilson Warlick | 1978 | 1 |
| NCWD0204 | James Bryan McMillan | 1995 | 1 |
| NCWD0301 | James Braxton Craven Jr. | 1966 | 1 |
| NCWD0302 | Woodrow Wilson Jones | 2002 | 1 |
| NCWD0303 | David Bryan Sentelle | 1987 | 1 |
| NCWD0401 | Robert Daniel Potter | 2009 | 1 |
| NCWD0402 | Lacy Herman Thornburg | 2009 | 1 |
| NCWD0501 | Harold Brent McKnight | 2004 | 1 |
| NCWD0601 | Robert James Conrad Jr. | 2025 | 1 |
This site does not publish a vacancy count. Seat identifiers are not stable across court renamings and reorganisations, so a seat that was vacated and refilled can appear empty when it is not. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts publishes the authoritative list of current judicial vacancies: uscourts.gov.
Seats are created by Congress and filled by the President with the Senate's consent. For current vacancies, use the Administrative Office's published list rather than inferring them from this table.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
How this bench was built
Who appointed them?
The tally of presidents who placed the sitting judges on this court.
- Republican
- 7
- Democratic
- 1
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Donald J. Trump | 3 |
| George W. Bush | 2 |
| Barack Obama | 1 |
| George H.W. Bush | 1 |
| Ronald Reagan | 1 |
The party of the president who appointed a judge is a matter of record. How that judge will rule is not, and this site draws no inference from one to the other.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)