President Bush announced his nomination of a judge from Salem to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th District, according to a U.S. Senate news release.

In June, Sens. John Warner and Jim Webb recommended state Supreme Court Justice Steven Agee as one of two Roanoke Valley judges to be considered by the president for two vacancies on the appeals court. The other recommendation was U.S. District Court Judge Glen Conrad, who hears cases in Roanoke.

The two senators recommended a total of five Virginia State Bar members for the vacancies on the appeals court, which hears cases from federal courts in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina.

"I am pleased that President Bush has selected a Virginian of such distinction for this high honor," Warner said. "With more than 30 years of legal experience and the highest esteem of his peers, Judge Agee will make an outstanding federal jurist."

Agee has served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia since 2003 and was a judge on the Court of Appeals of Virginia from 2001 to 2003.

He is a member of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission and was a state delegate from 1982 to 1994. He also served in the U.S. Army as a member of the Judge Advocate General Corps from 1977 to 1985. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.

Agee's nomination will be considered by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary before possibly advancing to the Senate.

The two vacancies were created by Judge Emory Widener and Judge Michael Luttig, who resigned in May 2006. Widener said he will step down once his successor is confirmed.