The Mountain/Valley Region comprises Circuits 10, 16, and 20-30. This represents nearly 70% of the total land area of the Commonwealth, but contains just under 34% of its population. Perhaps even more of note is that only about 12% of Virginia-barred attorneys have addresses of record in the Mountain/Valley Region. In fact, there are more Virginia attorneys with addresses of record in Washington, D.C. than in the Mountain/Valley Region. The 13 circuits of the the Mountain/Valley Region have 67 of the state's 172 Circuit Judge positions. These judges serve 75 of the Commonwealth's 133 localities. The largest circuit by population in Virginia is the 19th, which serves Fairfax City and Fairfax County with a combined population of 1,167,022, which is 13.4% of the state's population. The largest circuit which serves just one locality is the 14th, the Henrico County Circuit Court, serving a population of 334,760. The smallest single jurisdiction circuit by population is Chesapeake, with just 96,793. The largest circuit by population in the Mountain/Valley Region is the 20th, Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties, with a population of 518,926. The smallest circuit by population is the Commonwealth is in the Mountain/Valley Region, its the 21st, which serves Henry and Patrick Counties and the City of Martinsville, which have a combined population of 80,974. The 10th Circuit, part of the Mountain/Valley Region, is the largest by land area in the state at 4,015.63 square miles. That's over 10% of the Commonwealth's territory. The smallest land area for a circuit is Alexandria, the 18th Circuit, which is just 15.03 square miles. The smallest by area in the Mountain/Valley Region is the 23rd, covering the Cities of Roanoke and Salem and Roanoke County. With 307.52 square miles, the 23rd Circuit is 20 times larger than Alexandria. The circuit with the most localities is the 25th. It includes 12 Circuit Courts in Alleghaney, Augusta, Botetourt, Craig, Bath Highland and Rockbridge Counties and the Cities of Buena Vista, Covington, Lexington, Staunton and Waynesboro. The 29th Circuit has the most favorable per capital ratio for circuit court judges -- one judge per 19,465 citizens in Buchanan, Tazewell and Russell Counties. Another Mountain/Valley circuit as the highest per capital ratio at one judge for every 103,785 citizens -- it's the 20th, of course. The next nearest is the 31st, Prince Williams County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, with one judge to every 78,385 citizens. It seem like Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties might be due for an extra circuit judge position or possibly even two in the near future. Other than the 20th Circuit, within the Mountain/Valley Region only the 23rd has a higher than average per capital judge ratio. The state average is one judge per every 50,673 residents.
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