Circuit Court

The Fairfax County Circuit Court is the 19th Circuit Court for the Commonwealth of Virginia, which includes Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax.

History
Following the Civil War, the Virginia Constitution of 1870 created the 11th Judicial Circuit, which was comprised of Loudoun, Fauquier, Fairfax, Prince William, Rappahannock and Alexandria counties.

The Virginia Constitution of 1902 created the 16th Judicial Circuit, which was comprised of Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, and Alexandria counties and the City of Alexandria.

In 1973, a major reorganization of the Commonwealth's court system resulted in the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and Fairfax and Prince William Counties becoming the 19th Judicial Circuit.

In 1976, Delegate Floyd Bagley launched a campaign to separate Prince William county from the rest of the 19th Judicial Circuit.

In 1979, the bench of the 19th Circuit was enlarged to 11 with the election of Judge F. Bruce Bach by the General Assembly.

On January 1, 1988, the City of Falls Church withdrew from the 19th Judicial Circuit and joined the 17th Judicial circuit, which serves Arlington County.

In 1989, the court's bench was enlarged to 13 with the addition of Judges Rosemarie P. Annunziata and Thomas S. Kenny in July of that year.

Governor L. Douglas Wilder appointed General District Court Judge Marcus D. Williams to the bench of the Circuit Court to replace the retiring Lewis H. Griffith on September 18, 1990, making Williams the first African-American to sit on the bench of the court.

The bench was again enlarged to 14 in 1991 with the addition of Judge Stanley P. Klein.

List of Judges
The judges currently serving on the bench of the Circuit Court are:


 * The Honorable Randy I. Bellows
 * The Honorable Jan L. Brodie
 * The Honorable Michael F. Devine
 * The Honorable Brett A. Kassabian
 * The Honorable Charles J. Maxfield
 * The Honorable R. Terrence Ney
 * The Honorable Lorraine Nordlund
 * The Honorable Jane Marum Roush
 * The Honorable David S. Schell
 * The Honorable Dennis J. Smith
 * The Honorable Robert J. Smith
 * The Honorable Jonathan C. Thacher
 * The Honorable John M. Tran
 * The Honorable Bruce D. White