District Court of the Virgin Islands

The District Court of the Virgin Islands (in case citations, D.V.I.) is a United States territorial court with jurisdiction over federal and diversity actions in the United States Virgin Islands, a United States territory and more specifically an insular area that is an unincorporated organized territory. The court sits in both St. Croix and St. Thomas. Unlike their counterparts on other United States district courts, judges on the District Court of the Virgin Islands do not have life tenure, as the court is not an Article III court. Instead, the court is an Article IV court, created pursuant to Congress's Article IV, Section 3 powers. Judges serve for terms of ten years at a time, and until a successor is chosen and qualified. Appeals of the court's decisions are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.

The District Court used to have jurisdiction over all local civil actions brought in the Virgin Islands, but in 1976 the Virgin Islands Legislature—as allowed by the Revised Organic Act of 1954—gave a portion of this jurisdiction to the former Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands, at that time the local trial court. The jurisdiction of the Territorial Court was expanded to all civil actions in 1990. Similarly, the Legislature gave the Territorial Court jurisdiction over certain criminal actions brought under Virgin Islands law in 1985 and expanded that jurisdiction to all criminal cases in 1993, although the United States Attorney may still bring certain criminal actions in the District Court in some circumstances. In 2004 the Territorial Court was renamed the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.

Before the creation of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands in 2007, the Appellate Division of the District Court heard appeals from the Superior Court in three-judge panels. From 2007, the Supreme Court hears these appeals exclusively, with its decisions subject to review by the United States Supreme Court if that court decides to grant certiorari.

The current United States attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands is Delia L. Smith.

Current judges

As of April 27,  2021 (2021 -04-27):

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
12	Chief Judge	Robert A. Molloy	Charlotte Amalie	1975	2020–present	2021–present	—	Trump
11	District Judge	Wilma A. Lewis	Christiansted	1956	2011–present	2013–2021	—	Obama
10	Senior Judge	Curtis V. Gómez	inactive	1953	2005–2020	2005–2013	2020–present	G.W. Bush Vacancy and pending nomination Seat Prior judge's duty station Seat last held by Vacancy reason Date of vacancy Nominee Date of nomination — Christiansted Wilma A. Lewis Term expired November 10, 2021 – – Former judges # Judge State Born–died Active service Chief Judge Senior status Appointed by Reason for termination 1 George Philip Jones VI 1877–1954 1936–1937 — — F. Roosevelt expiration of recess appointment 2 William H. Hastie VI 1904–1976 1937–1939 — — F. Roosevelt resignation 3 Herman E. Moore VI 1892–1980 1939–1957 — — F. Roosevelt retirement 4 Walter A. Gordon VI 1894–1976 1958–1968 — — Eisenhower expiration of term 5 Almeric L. Christian VI 1919–1999 1969–1990 1971–1988 1990–1993 Nixon retirement 6 Warren H. Young VI 1916–1980 1971–1980 — — Nixon death 7 David V. O'Brien VI 1932–1989 1981–1989 1988–1989 — Reagan death 8 Thomas K. Moore VI 1938– 1992–2005 1992–1999 — G.H.W. Bush expiration of term 9 Raymond L. Finch VI 1940–2023 1994–2008 1999–2005 2008–2018 Clinton retirement See also Courts of the United States List of current United States district judges List of United States federal courthouses in the Virgin Islands Politics of the United States Virgin Islands References External links District Court of the Virgin Islands