Gina Marie Groh (née Householder; born June 7, 1964) is a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (in case citations, N.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which ar ...

Early life and education

A native of Williamsport, Maryland, Groh received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree, ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from Shepherd College in 1986. She received the McMurran Scholar Award, the highest academic honor granted by Shepherd. In 1989 she received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from West Virginia University College of Law.

Career

After law school, Groh worked at the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson from 1989 to 1991 and Mell, Brownell & Baker from 1991 to 1995. She took a position with the firm Semmes, Bowen & Semmes from 1995 to 1998. Groh became an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for

Berkeley County, West Virginia Berkeley County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Hagerstown- Martinsburg, MD- WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the co ...

between the years of 1998 to 2002. From 2002 until 2006, she was an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for

Jefferson County, West Virginia Jefferson County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. It is the easternmost county of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,701. Its county seat is Charles Tow ...

. In 2006, she was appointed by (then) Governor

Joe Manchin Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor o ...

as a Judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit Court of West Virginia. She was the first female Judge to serve in the 23rd Judicial Circuit and at the time of her appointment was only the third female circuit judge in West Virginia. She served as a Circuit Court Judge from her appointment in 2006 until March 19, 2012 when she resigned in order to receive her federal judicial commission. She is the first United States District Judge from the

Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia The Eastern Panhandle is the eastern of the two panhandles in the U.S. state of West Virginia; the other is the Northern Panhandle. It is a small stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Some sourc ...

Federal judicial service

In March 2011,

United States Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and p ...

and

Jay Rockefeller John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Virg ...

recommended Groh to President

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

to fill a vacant seat on the

. On May 19, 2011, Groh was nominated by the President to fill the seat of Judge W. Craig Broadwater, who died in 2006. Her nomination was reported out of the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

on October 6, 2011 by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. On March 15, 2012, the Senate confirmed Groh by a 95–2 vote. She received her commission on March 20, 2012. Her formal investiture ceremony took place on October 19, 2012, at

Shepherd University Shepherd University is a public university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the university enrolled 3,159 students in Fall 2020. History Shepherd University began when the county seat of Jefferson ...

. She served as Chief Judge from 2015 to 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Groh, Gina M. 1964 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges County prosecuting attorneys in West Virginia Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia People from Charles Town, West Virginia People from Hagerstown, Maryland People from Williamsport, Maryland Shepherd University alumni United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama West Virginia circuit court judges West Virginia lawyers West Virginia University College of Law alumni