2007 WINCHESTER CIRCUIT COURT CALENDAR

January / February / March
1 /
Holiday
/ 19 /
Holiday
/ 13 / Grand Jury Recall
2 / Holiday / 20 / Grand Jury Recall / 15 / Civil Motions (Wetsel)
9 / Term Day / 22 / Civil Motions (Wetsel) / 22 /
Civil Motions (Prosser)
12 /
Holiday
/ 23 / Civil Motions (Prosser) / 27 / Misdemeanor Appeals
15 /
Holiday
/ 27 / Misdemeanor Appeals
23 / Misdemeanor Appeals
25 / Civil Motions (Wetsel )
26 / *** Civil Motions (Prosser)
Rescheduled to: 02/02/2007
April / May / June
17 / Term Day / 4 / Holiday-Apple Blossom / 12 / Grand Jury Recall
20 / Civil Motions (Prosser) / 8 / Grand Jury Recall / 19 / Misdemeanor Appeals
24 / Misdemeanor Appeals / 22 / Misdemeanor Appeals / 21 / Civil Motions (Wetsel)
26 /
Civil Motions (Wetsel)
/ 24 / Civil Motions (Wetsel) / 22 / Civil Motions (Prosser)
25 / Civil Motions (Prosser)
28 /

Holiday

July / August / September
4 /
Holiday
/ 16 /

Civil Motions (Wetsel)

/ 3 /
Holiday
17 / Term Day / 21 /
Grand Jury Recall
/ 18 / Grand Jury Recall
19 / Civil Motions (Wetsel) / Rescheduled to: 08/14/2007 / 20 / Civil Motions (Wetsel)
20 / Civil Motions (Prosser ) / 24 / Civil Motions (Prosser) / 21 / Civil Motions (Prosser)
24 / Misdemeanor Appeals / Rescheduled to: 08/23/2007 / 25 / Misdemeanor Appeals
28 /

Misdemeanor Appeals

October / November / December
8 /
Holiday
/ 12 /
Holiday
/ 18 / Grand Jury Recall
16 / Term Day / 20 / Grand Jury Recall / 20 / Civil Motions (Wetsel)
18 / Civil Motions (Wetsel) / 20 / Civil Motions (Prosser) / 21 / Civil Motions (Prosser)
19 / Civil Motions (Prosser) / 21 /
Office Closes at 12 noon
/ 21 / Misdemeanor Appeals
23 /
Misdemeanor Appeals
/ 22 /
Holiday
/ 24 /
Holiday
23 /
Holiday
/ 25 /
Holiday
27 /

Misdemeanor Appeals

/ 31 /
Holiday
29 /

Civil Motions (Wetsel)

/ !!! Happy Holidays !!!

Memorandum

To:Winchester-Frederick County Bar

From:John E. Wetsel, Jr. and John R. Prosser, Judges

Date:August 25, 2006

Subject:Change in Circuit Docket

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Due to the burgeoning docket in the circuit, the dockets have been reassigned among the judges in the Northern part of the circuit. Effective January 1, 2007, Judge Wetsel will be presiding over all Clarke County cases, all Winchester Criminal cases, and the odd-numbered Winchester Civil cases. Judge Prosser will be presiding over all Frederick County cases, and the even-numbered Winchester Civil cases.

For the odd-numbered cases in Winchester, the pretrial procedure to set cases for trial will remain the same, and Judge Wetsel will continue to hear preliminary matters in all Winchester civil cases until December 31, 2006, except for motions in limine in even-numbered cases set for trial after January 1, 2007, which should be noticed and heard before Judge Prosser. After January 1, 2007, all matters in the even-numbered Winchester Civil cases will be heard by Judge Prosser.

If you have an even-numbered Winchester civil case to be set for trial on a date after January 1, 2007, you will have to appear before Judge Prosser on any of the following dates to set your case for trial:

9:00 a.m. on September 18, October 6, or November 20

1:00 p.m. on December 15

After December 15, you may also appear at 1:00 p.m. on the second Frederick County Motions Day of the month, which will be a Winchester Motions Day on which any matters involving even numbered Winchester Civil cases may be noticed and heard.

Hopefully, the transition will go smoothly.

Cc:Terry Whittle and Rebecca Hogan, Clerks

* * * For Judge Wetsel Only * * *

Civil cases may be set for trial or hearing in one of the following ways:

  1. File a praecipe and appear on motions day as scheduled by this Court. This method requires formal written notice to all parties. A time certain will be set by the Clerk when the parties appear in person or by conference call.
  2. Contact the judge's secretary at 540/667-5770, ext. 358. If this method is used, the party seeking the trial date or hearing date must contact the other parties and obtain their available dates, or coordinate with the judge's secretary about a mutually suitable date for the trial or hearing or to set a date and time to appear before the Court or to call the Court to schedule the trial or hearing.

Regardless of the method used, parties may appear by conference call at a time scheduled with the judge's secretary or the Clerk of the Court if the call is on motions day, so long as they either place the conference call themselves or provide the court with a number where they may be called collect. If more than two parties are to participate in the conference call, then the party requesting the conference call must make the arrangements, because the Court's phone system is limited to two party conference calls.

One party may appear and set a case, so long as they have contacted the other parties and obtained their available dates and make that representation to the Court.

In order to place matters required by Rule 3:1 on a Motion Day docket of this Court, counsel or a party not in default and not represented by counsel shall file in the clerk's office a praecipe duly signed and in the form as provided for in Rule 1:15(b) and the Appendix thereto of the Supreme Court of Virginia. You may download a praecipe form from our website at: The praecipe must be filed not less than seven (7) nor more than thirty (30) days prior to the Motion Day to which it is returnable. The certificate of service shall contain the names and addresses of all persons entitled to receive the praecipe.

The order in which matters are listed for the hearing on the Motion Day docket shall be at the discretion of the Clerk. At least five (5) days before each Motion Day of this Court, the Clerk will mail a copy of the docket to all Virginia counsel of record and all unrepresented parties not in default.

***************

Please note that the Court Calendar can change without notice. This is especially true during the months of November and December. To avoid any inconvenience to you, please check for any updates on the clerk’s office website at or give this office a call at (540) 667-5770