Several Southwest Virginians could be in the running for a vacant seat on the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, according to lists of nominees sent to legislators this week.

The Virginia Bar Association, Virginia State Bar and Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys have all sent lists of possible candidates that they endorse to U.S. Sens. George Allen and John Warner.

U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad, who sits in the Roanoke division of the Western District, was included on all three lists. Conrad, 56, has been on the federal bench for 30 years. He began as a U.S. magistrate judge in 1976 and was elevated by President Bush in 2003.

Justice Steve Agee of the Virginia Supreme Court was also recommended by all three legal associations. Agee, who is from Salem, served that city as a lawyer, a legislator and a judge on the state's intermediate appellate court before he was named to the Virginia Supreme Court in 2003.

Neither Conrad nor Agee could be reached for comment Friday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent, who is originally from Wise County and sits in the Abingdon division of the Western District of Virginia, was endorsed for the position by the Virginia State Bar.

"I'm incredibly humbled that anyone would think that I would be qualified for that position," Sargent said. "It's very early in my career."

Also endorsed by the state bar and the defense attorneys' group was Judge Elizabeth McClanahan of the Virginia Court of Appeals. McClanahan, who is from Buchanan County, declined to comment Friday.

Conrad, Agee, Sargent and McClanahan join about a dozen others in the state's legal community who have been endorsed by the three associations. Other candidates include attorneys, law school professors and other state and federal judges.

Endorsements may also still be made by the Virginia Association of Trial Lawyers, the Old Dominion Bar Association and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association. VADA president Mark Loftis said his group may have additional endorsements.

Each of the groups received a letter from Allen and Warner last week asking them to send recommendations for the vacancy. According to the letter, the senators plan to make a submission to the White House no later than May 31.

Allen spokesman David Snepp on Friday said that the process will likely remain confidential. A Warner spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The opening on the 4th Circuit was created early this month when Judge Michael Luttig, 51, resigned to become senior vice president and general counsel for the Boeing Co.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals serves Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina and West Virginia. It is authorized to have 15 seats, and each state has traditionally been allotted a certain number of seats.

The departure of Luttig, who lives in Vienna, leaves one Virginia judgeship open.