William Edwin Orr

William Edwin Orr (October 26, 1881 – October 7, 1965) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Frisco, Utah, Orr attended the University of Nevada at Reno and read law to enter the bar in 1912. He held a series of positions in Lincoln County, Nevada, first as a county clerk from 1906 to 1910, then county treasurer from 1911 to 1912, then district attorney from 1913 to 1918, and finally district judge from 1919 to 1939. He was a Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court from 1939 to 1945, serving as Chief Justice from 1943 to 1945.

On September 10, 1945, Orr was nominated by President Harry S. Truman to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Curtis Dwight Wilbur. Orr was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 19, 1945, and received his commission on September 28, 1945. He assumed senior status on January 1, 1956, serving in that capacity until his death.

Sources

• William Edwin Orr at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.