ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
Chief U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser notified President Clinton this week that he plans to relinquish his position and take senior status as of April 30.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson of Roanoke will succeed him as chief judge for the Western District of Virginia.
Kiser, who will turn 68 in June, wrote in his resignation letter that even on senior status he plans to continue rendering "substantial judicial service." Senior judges may maintain full caseloads if they wish, or may work only part time.
His decision to take senior status means that Sen. Charles Robb, as the state's Democratic senator, will suggest someone to Clinton to fill Kiser's vacancy. That process will take months.
Kiser, who sits in Danville but hears cases throughout the district, has served since January 1982. He was appointed by President Reagan.
He is probably best known for his rulings concerning Virginia Military Institute's attempts to remain all-male, a case that has been in the national spotlight for seven years. Kiser twice upheld the public college's right to exclude women before he and the appeals court above him were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
Kiser declined to comment, but his secretary, Pat Howell, said he plans to maintain a full schedule until a new judge is appointed and then will probably take a lighter case load.
"He doesn't intend to even semi-retire," Howell said.
The title of chief judge is rotated every seven years, but a judge must step down sooner than that if he turns 70 - and cannot be considered for the job if he is over 64.
The additional duties of the chief judge are largely administrative, dealing with personnel matters, court routines and procedures.
Kiser became chief judge in 1993 after Judge James Turk turned 70. Turk, who was grandfathered in after the seven-year rule was created, held the position of chief judge for 20 years. Turk, who sits in Roanoke, continued as a district judge after giving up the position and has not taken senior status.
Wilson, who was appointed in 1990, was next in line for chief judge because of seniority. At 47, he is the youngest judge in the Western District. It includes courthouses in Harrisonburg, Abingdon, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Big Stone Gap and Danville.
"I'm honored to be able to follow men such as Jackson Kiser and Jim Turk," he said Wednesday.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Kiser, Wilson.by CNB