Williamsburg/James City County Circuit Court

9th Judicial Circuit of Virginia

Circuit Courts Informational Pamphlet

Judges

• Hon. Holly B. Smith, Chief Judge
• Hon. Benjamin Elliott Bondurant
• Hon. Joshua P. DeFord
• Hon. Richard H. Rizk
• Hon. Jeffrey W. Shaw

Terms of Court and General Information

• Terms begin, 3rd Wednesday, Jan., March, May, July, Sept., & Nov.
• Grand Juries, 1st day of Term.
• Civil trials are set by praecipe submitted seven days preceding Term Day. Setting of trials without appearance at docket call will be at the Judge's discretion. (Judge's administrator handles all scheduling of civil cases.)
• Grand Juries at 9:00 a.m.
• Criminal docket calls at 9:00 a.m.
• Civil docket calls at 11:00 a.m.
• Instructions must be submitted prior to trial.
• Local rules adopted pursuant to Section 8.01-4.
• Should term day fall on a legal holiday as set forth in Section 2.2-3300, Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, the term day will be rescheduled.
• Faxes from attorneys and litigants will NOT be accepted for any civil and criminal cases.
• The criminal division emails the final court orders to the attorneys upon request. We also have quite a few attorneys that use the OCRA system to obtain their own copies. We strongly encourage attorneys to provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of their certified orders.