Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Because the library is not open to the general public, researchers should contact the library to arrange access to the collection.

Preferred Citation

Circuit Court Judges Benchbook Committee Records, 1977; 1984-2011, Accession 00033329, Supreme Court of Virginia Archives, Virginia State Law Library, Richmond.

Acquisition Information

These records were donated to the Supreme Court of Virginia Archives in 2013 (accession 00033329).

Biographical/Historical Information

In 1984, the Judicial Administration Committee of the Judicial Conference of Virginia began efforts to publish a bench book for Virginia circuit court judges containing information about changes in civil and criminal law.

Thomas D. Horne, Judge, Twentieth Judicial Circuit of Virginia,was appointed Chair of the Circuit Court Judges' Benchbook Committee by Chief Justice Harry Carrico January 7, 2000. Judge Horne retired from the bench in December 2013.

Scope and Content

Correspondence, memos, research, minutes, clippings, and draft revisions of the Virginia circuit court judges benchbooks (civil and criminal). The bulk of the records document the work of the Circuit Court Judges' Benchbook Committee from 2000 to 2011.

The records also include correspondence of the Judge William I. Walker, Circuit Court of the City of Richmond and a member of the Judicial Administration Committee of the Judicial Conference of Virginia, 1984-1987, documenting the origins of the benchbook. Also included are correspondence and a draft, 1995, of an article on bifurcated sentencing written by Judge Thomas Horne for publication in the University of Richmond Law Review.