The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case c ...

s, W.D. Ky.) is the federal district court for the western part of the state of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Appeals from the Western District of Kentucky are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

(except for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction includes the following

counties: Adair, Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway,

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, Casey,

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Daviess, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Jefferson, LaRue, Livingston, Logan,

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, Marion, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Meade, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Nelson,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Oldham, Russell, Simpson, Spencer, Taylor, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren, Washington, and Webster. The following counties are in the Louisville Division: Breckinridge, Bullitt, Hardin, Jefferson, LaRue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, Oldham, Spencer, and Washington. The following counties are in the Bowling Green Division: Adair, Allen, Barren, Butler, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Edmonson, Green, Hart, Logan, Metcalf, Monroe, Russell, Simpson, Taylor, Todd, and Warren. The following counties are in the Owensboro Division: Daviess, Grayson, Hancock, Henderson, Hopkins, McLean, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Union, and Webster. The following counties are in the Paducah Division: Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Livingston, Lyon, McCracken, Marshall, and Trigg.

History

The United States District Court for the District of Kentucky was one of the original 13 courts established by the Judiciary Act of 1789, , on September 24, 1789.Asbury Dickens, ''A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America'' (1852), p. 391.U.S. District Courts of Kentucky, Legislative history
'' Federal Judicial Center''. At the time, Kentucky was not yet a state, but was within the territory of the state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The District was unchanged when Kentucky became a state on June 1, 1792. On February 13, 1801, the Judiciary Act of 1801, , abolished the U.S. district court in Kentucky, but the repeal of this Act restored the District on March 8, 1802, . The District was subdivided into Eastern and Western Districts on February 12, 1901, by .

Meeting places

The court is based in Louisville and also holds sessions in federal courthouses in Bowling Green, Owensboro, and Paducah. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in

maintains appellate jurisdiction over the district. Its court in Louisville is located at the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse.

U.S. Attorneys

The United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. As of the

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

is Michael A. Bennett. * Ruben D. Hill 1898–1906 * George Du Relle 1906–14 * Perry B. Miller 1914–19 * W. Voris Gregory 1919–22 * W. Sherman Ball 1922–27 * Thomas Sparks Jr. 1927–35 * Bunk Gardner 1935–38 * Eli H. Brown III 1938–45 * David C. Walls 1945–53 * Charles F. Wood 1953–54 * J. Leonard Walker 1954–59 * William B. Jones 1959–61 * William E. Scent 1961–65 * Boyce F. Martin Jr. 1965 * Ernest W. Rivers 1965–70 * John T. Smith 1970 * George J. Long Jr. 1970–77 * J. Albert Jones 1977–80 * John L. Smith 1980–81 * Alexander T. Taft Jr. 1981 * Ronald E. Meredith 1981–85 * Alexander T. Taft Jr. 1985–86 * Joseph M. Whittle 1986–93 * W. Michael Troop 1993–99 * Steven S. Reed 1999-2001 * Steve Pence 2001–2003 * David L. Huber 2003–2009 * David J. Hale 2010–2014 * John E. Kuhn Jr. 2014-2017 * Russell Coleman 2017–2021 * Michael A. Bennett 2021–present

Current judges

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

References

External links

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky 1789 establishments in Virginia 1802 establishments in Kentucky 1901 establishments in Kentucky Kentucky, Western District Kentucky law Infrastructure in Louisville, Kentucky Bowling Green, Kentucky Owensboro, Kentucky Paducah, Kentucky Courthouses in Kentucky