United States District Court for the Western District of Washington

United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (W.D. Wash.)
Seal of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Appeals to	Ninth Circuit
Established	March 3, 1905
Judges assigned	7
Chief judge	Marsha J. Pechman
Official site

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington (in case citations, W.D. Wash.) is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of the state of Washington: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, and Whatcom. Its courthouse is located at 7th and Stewart in Seattle.

As of the 2000 census, 4.6 million people resided in the Western District, representing 78% of the state's population. The district includes the cities of Bellingham, Bremerton, Seattle, Bellevue, Olympia, Vancouver, Everett, and Tacoma, amongst others.

Cases from the Western District of Washington are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The United States Attorney for the district is Annette Hayes. The United States Marshal for the district is currently Mark Ericks, who was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 5, 2010.

Current Judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
25	Chief Judge	Marsha J. Pechman	Seattle	1951	1999–Present	2011–Present	—	Clinton
24	District Judge	Robert S. Lasnik	Seattle	1951	1998–Present	2004–2011	—	Clinton
26	District Judge	Ronald B. Leighton	Tacoma	1951	2002–Present	—	—	G.W. Bush
27	District Judge	Ricardo S. Martinez	Seattle	1951	2004–Present	—	—	G.W. Bush
28	District Judge	James L. Robart	Seattle	1947	2004–Present	—	—	G.W. Bush
29	District Judge	Richard A. Jones	Seattle	1950	2007–Present	—	—	G.W. Bush
30	District Judge	Benjamin Hale Settle	Tacoma	1947	2007–Present	—	—	G.W. Bush
13	Senior Judge	Walter Thomas McGovern	Seattle	1922	1971–1987	—	1987–Present	Nixon
17	Senior Judge	Barbara Jacobs Rothstein	Washington, D.C.	1939	1980–2011	1987–1994	2011–Present	Carter
18	Senior Judge	John C. Coughenour	Seattle	1941	1981–2006	1997–2004	2006–Present	Reagan
19	Senior Judge	Carolyn R. Dimmick	Seattle	1929	1985–1997	—	1997–Present	Reagan
20	Senior Judge	Robert Jensen Bryan	Tacoma	1934	1986–2000	—	2000–Present	Reagan
22	Senior Judge	Thomas Samuel Zilly	Seattle	1935	1988–2004	—	2004–Present	Reagan

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
6	Robert S. Lasnik	Senior Status	January 27, 2016	–	–
1	Marsha J. Pechman	Senior Status	February 6, 2016	–	–

Former Judges

#	Judge	State	Born/Died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Cornelius Holgate Hanford	WA	1849–1926	1890–1912	—	—	Harrison	resignation
2	George Donworth	WA	1861–1947	1909–1912	—	—	Taft	resignation
3	Edward E. Cushman	WA	1865–1944	1912–1939	—	1939–1944	Taft	death
4	Clinton Woodbury Howard	WA	1864–1937	1912–1913	—	—	Taft	not confirmed
5	Jeremiah Neterer	WA	1862–1943	1913–1933	—	1933–1943	Wilson	death
6	John Clyde Bowen	WA	1888–1978	1934–1961	—	1961–1978	F. Roosevelt	death
7	Lloyd Llewellyn Black	WA	1889–1950	1939–1950	—	—	F. Roosevelt	death
8	Charles Henry Leavy	WA	1884–1952	1942–1952	—	1952–1952	F. Roosevelt	death
9	William James Lindberg	WA	1904–1981	1951–1971	—	1971–1981	Truman	death
10	George Hugo Boldt	WA	1903–1984	1953–1971	—	1971–1984	Eisenhower	death
11	William Trulock Beeks	WA	1906–1988	1961–1973	—	1973–1988	Kennedy	death
12	William Nelson Goodwin	WA	1909–1975	1966–1975	—	—	Johnson	death
14	Morell Edward Sharp	WA	1920–1980	1971–1980	—	—	Nixon	death
15	Donald S. Voorhees	WA	1916–1989	1974–1986	—	1986–1989	Nixon	death
16	Jack Edward Tanner	WA	1919–2006	1978–1991	—	1991–2006	Carter	death
21	William Lee Dwyer	WA	1929–2002	1987–1998	—	1998–2002	Reagan	death
23	Franklin D. Burgess	WA	1935–2010	1994–2005	—	2005–2010	Clinton	death

Succession of seats

Seat 1
Seat reassigned from the District of Washington on March 2, 1905 by 33 Stat. 824
Hanford	1905–1912
Howard	1912–1913
Neterer	1913–1933
Bowen	1934–1961
Beeks	1961–1973
Voorhees	1974–1986
Dwyer	1987–1998
Pechman	1999–present

Seat 2
Seat established on March 2, 1909 by 35 Stat. 686
Donworth	1909–1912
Cushman	1912–1939
Leavy	1942–1952
Boldt	1953–1971
Sharp	1971–1980
Coughenour	1981–2006
Jones	2007–present

Seat 3
Seat established on May 31, 1938 by 52 Stat. 585
Seat made concurrent with Eastern District on January 20, 1940 by 54 Stat. 16
Black	1939–1950
Lindberg	1951–1971
Seat assigned solely to Western District on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80
McGovern	1971–1987
Zilly	1988–2004
Robart	2004–present

Seat 4
Seat established on May 19, 1961 by 75 Stat. 80 (concurrent with Eastern District)
Goodwin	1966–1975
Tanner	1978–1991
Seat assigned solely to Western District on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
Burgess	1994–2005
Settle	2007–present

Seat 5
Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629
Rothstein	1980–2011
Seat abolished on September 1, 2011 (temporary judgeship expired)

Seat 6
Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333
Dimmick	1985–1997
Lasnik	1998–present

Seat 7
Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 (temporary)
Seat made permanent on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 5089
Bryan	1986–2000
Leighton	2002–present

Seat 8
Seat established in 2003 pursuant to 104 Stat. 5089 (temporary)
Seat became permanent upon the abolition of Seat 5 on September 1, 2011
Martinez	2004–present

See also

• Courts of Washington (U.S. state)
• List of United States federal courthouses in Washington

External links

• Official website
• United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington official website