The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is located at 1100 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219. The main phone number for the clerk's office is 804-916-2700. This court of appeals hears appellate arguments from civil and criminal cases originating in one of nine districts.

The districts which fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals include the District of Maryland, District of South Carolina, Northern District of West Virginia, Eastern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia, Western District of West Virginia, Western District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina and Eastern District of North Carolina.

There are currently 15 active judges on the Fourth Judicial Circuit, and one of these serves as chief judge. This is largely an administrative position that is rotated among active judges who have served at least seven years or have reached the age of 70. However, this rule is waived if no active judge meets these requirements. Once a judge retires and becomes senior in status, the President appoints a new judge to the vacant seat.

The homepage for the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is located at http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/. Here, you can search recent opinions, obtain general court information, view the court's calendar, rules and procedures, download forms and notices and even search for past case records.

Opinions can be searched at http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/opinion.htm, and you may search by case number, case name or date. All opinions issued since 1996 are searchable here.

Options for searching for case records include logging into PACER or the court's docket system directly if you are an attorney. Forms and notices available through the court's website include change of address forms for admitted attorneys, case initiation forms and important documents required to be submitted within 14 days of case initiation.