United States District Court for the Western District of New York

United States District Court for the Western District of New York (W.D.N.Y.)
Appeals to	Second Circuit
Established	May 12, 1900
Judges assigned	4
Chief judge	Frank Paul Geraci, Jr.
Official site

The United States District Court for the Western District of New York (in case citations, W.D.N.Y.) is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the western parts of Upstate New York.

Appeals are taken to the Second Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

Jurisdiction

The Western District of New York includes the following counties: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates. It has jurisdiction over the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, and Elmira. From 1904 to 1916, the court met at the United States Post Office (Lockport, New York).

The United States Government is represented in the district by the US Attorney for the Western District of New York. The current incumbent is William J. Hochul, Jr.

Current judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
15	Chief Judge	Frank Paul Geraci, Jr.	Rochester	1951	2013–present	2015–present	—	Obama
16	District Judge	Elizabeth A. Wolford	Rochester	1966	2013–present	—	—	Obama
17	District Judge	Lawrence J. Vilardo	Buffalo	1955	2015–present	—	—	Obama
18	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	Senior Judge	John Thomas Curtin	inactive	1921	1967–1989	1974–1989	1989–present	L. Johnson
10	Senior Judge	Michael Anthony Telesca	Rochester	1929	1982–1996	1989–1995	1996–present	Reagan
11	Senior Judge	David G. Larimer	Rochester	1944	1987–2009	1996–2002	2009–present	Reagan
12	Senior Judge	Richard Joseph Arcara	Buffalo	1940	1988–2015	2003–2010	2015–present	Reagan
13	Senior Judge	William M. Skretny	Buffalo	1945	1990–2015	2010–2015	2015–present	G.H.W. Bush
14	Senior Judge	Charles J. Siragusa	Rochester	1947	1997–2012	—	2012–present	Clinton

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
3	William M. Skretny	Senior Status	March 8, 2015	Kathleen Marie Sweet	March 15, 2016

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Age at appointment	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Hazel, John R.John R. Hazel	NY	1860–1951	1900–1931	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	McKinley, McKinley	retirement
2	Adler, Simon LouisSimon Louis Adler	NY	1867–1934	1927–1934	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Coolidge, Coolidge	death
3	Knight, JohnJohn Knight	NY	1871–1955	1931–1955	1948–1955	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Hoover, Hoover	death
4	Rippey, Harlan WatsonHarlan Watson Rippey	NY	1874–1946	1934–1936	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	F. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt	resignation
5	Burke, Harold P.Harold P. Burke	NY	1895–1981	1937–1981	1955–1967	{{{age at appointment}}}	1981–1981	F. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt	death
6	Morgan, Justin ColfaxJustin Colfax Morgan	NY	1900–1959	1956–1959	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	death
7	Henderson, John OliverJohn Oliver Henderson	NY	1909–1974	1959–1974	1967–1974	{{{age at appointment}}}	—	Eisenhower, Eisenhower	death
9	Elfvin, John T.John T. Elfvin	NY	1917–2009	1974–1987	—	{{{age at appointment}}}	1987–2007	Ford, Ford	resignation

Succession of seats

Seat 1 Seat established on May 12, 1900 by 31 Stat. 175 Hazel 1900–1931 Knight 1931–1955 Morgan 1956–1959 Henderson 1959–1974 Elfvin 1974–1987 Arcara 1988–2015 Vilardo 2015–present

Seat 2 Seat established on March 3, 1927 by 44 Stat. 1370 Adler 1927–1934 Rippey 1934–1936 Burke 1937–1981 Telesca 1982–1996 Siragusa 1997–2012 Wolford 2013–present

Seat 3 Seat established on March 18, 1966 by 80 Stat. 75 Curtin 1967–1989 Skretny 1990–2015 vacant 2015–present

Seat 4 Seat established on July 10, 1984 by 98 Stat. 333 (temporary) Seat made permanent on December 1, 1990 by 104 Stat. 1589 Larimer 1987–2009 Geraci, Jr. 2013–present

See also

• Courts of New York
• List of United States federal courthouses in New York
• Denise O'Donnell, former US Attorney for this district

Notes

External links

• United States District Court for the Western District of New York Official Website
• United States Attorney for the Western District of New York Official Website