The chief judge of the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has announced he will step down, opening the way for Orangeburg’s Karen Williams to make history by stepping into the position.

When he relinquishes his position next year, William W. Wilkins will move to “senior status,” a form of semiretirement that will leave his seat vacant but allow him to continue hearing cases.

“I’ve just reached the point that it’s time to move on,” Wilkins said in a telephone interview Friday.

Wilkins, 64, said he announced his decision to the court on Wednesday and sent a letter to President Bush on Thursday. Senior status will allow him to spend more time on judicial duties and less time on administrative tasks, he said.

With Wilkins’ decision, the door is open for Orangeburg native Williams to become the next chief judge.

Under federal guidelines, Williams’ seniority places her squarely in position to become Wilkins’ successor. Williams would become the first woman to hold the chief justice position in the circuit.

“It’s a very exciting thought, but it’s a long ways away,” Williams said in a telephone interview Friday. “I think it’s a bit premature to be thinking about that.”

Williams taught high school in Irmo and Orangeburg before earning her juris doctor degree. She graduated cum laude from the University of South Carolina in 1980.

She worked as an attorney with husband Charles Williams, son of the late S.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marshall Williams, D-Orangeburg, for 12 years before she was nominated to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals by the late Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond.

Williams has twice been mentioned prominently among finalists for a U.S. Supreme Court nomination.

The 4th Circuit Court hears federal appeals from Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas. It is considered one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the nation.

Although the court is based in Richmond, Williams maintains an office in downtown Orangeburg.

In 1981, President Reagan appointed Wilkins to the U.S. District Court in South Carolina, making Wilkins the first federal judge in the nation appointed by the then-newly elected president. Wilkins was appointed to the 4th Circuit in 1986 and became chief judge in 2003.

In a statement issued Friday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wilkins in more than two decades of federal service never forgot his South Carolina roots, adding that the Greenville native is “truly one of our states finest jurists.”

“For the last 25 years, Billy Wilkins has epitomized what a judge should be by his temperament, intellect and sound judgment,” Graham said. “Great judges not only have a keen understanding of law, but a keen understanding of people and how the law serves them.”

Meanwhile, Williams said the court would be at a loss with Wilkins’ departure, adding she’d been honored to serve with the chief judge.

There are already three vacancies in the 4th Circuit, one of which was created in May when Judge J. Michael Luttig resigned to accept a job with aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. Luttig had been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee. The other seats have been vacant for years; Judge James Dickson Phillips Jr. took senior status in 1994 and Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. died in 2000.

Judge H. Emory Widener has said he also plans to take senior status at an undetermined point, which would create a fifth vacancy in the 15-member court.

Bush has nominated Terrence Boyle of North Carolina for Phillips’ seat and William James Haynes II of Virginia for Widener’s projected vacancy. Both nominees have generated intense opposition from Democrats in the Senate, which must confirm judicial nominations.

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