---
title: "Vivian F. Henderson | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/vivian-f-henderson-va-virginia-beach-general-district-court"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-07-26"
---

# Vivian F. Henderson

Virginia Beach General District Court · Judge

## Profile

- Court: Virginia Beach General District Court
- State: Virginia
- Role: Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-26

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### cell phones and electronic devices

Scope: statewide

Virginia courts commonly restrict cell phones and other electronic devices in court buildings; counsel and litigants should check the local court policy before arrival.

Evidence excerpt: Most courts in Virginia do not allow you to bring a cell phone or other electronic device into the building.

[Cell Phone & Electronic Device Policy](https://selfhelp.vacourts.gov/node/30/cell-phone-electronic-device-policy)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.vacourts.gov/static/directories/judges_rule115.pdf)
- [Official roster](https://www.vacourts.gov/static/directories/judges_rule115.pdf)
- [Office of the Executive Secretary, Supreme Court of Virginia official judicial roster](https://www.vacourts.gov/static/directories/judges_rule115.pdf)
- [Cell Phone & Electronic Device Policy](https://selfhelp.vacourts.gov/node/30/cell-phone-electronic-device-policy)

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## Biography

### Professional career

- Presiding Judge of the General District Court for the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia, a role she has held since December 1, 2020
- Appointed on November 13, 2020, Judge Henderson serves as a General District Court Judge in Virginia Beach, presiding over civil, criminal, and traffic cases
- She was licensed to practice law in Virginia in 1996, passing the bar on her first attempt
- She has also held the role of an adjunct professor at Averett University, Bryant and Stratton College, and Strayer University

### Education

- B.S. in Psychology from the College of William & Mary
- Regent University School of Law — J.D.

### Additional information

- In 2015, Henderson became the first African American appointed as a Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney for Virginia Beach
- Listed among the court’s presiding judges alongside other notable justices.
- overseeing the Special Investigations Trial Team, Victim Witness Program, and Adult Drug Court.
- She has also been appointed by two Virginia Supreme Court Justices to the Virginia Supreme Court Domestic Violence Commission.
- Active in the South Hampton Roads Bar Association, Old Dominion Bar Association, American Judges Association, Virginia Association of Women Judges, and the National Association of Women Judges (Ensuring Racial Equity Committee).
- Her legal career began in the Commonwealth’s Attorney Offices in Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, and in the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, where she was dual-designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney.
- Judge Henderson is a Life Member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., serving as Eastern Region Zeta Male Network Coordinator and President & Youth Advisor of the Beta Alpha Omicron Zeta Chapter in Chesapeake, VA.
- She also serves on the Chesapeake Bay ASAP Policy Advisory Board and the Alzheimer’s AHEAD Study Community Advisory Board.
- Henderson cites the quote from Edward Everett Hale — “I am only one, but I am one.
- I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
- And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” — as a guiding principle in her life and service.
- Court Contact (Virginia Beach General District Court) 2425 Nimmo Parkway, Virginia Beach, VA 23456 Phone: (757) 385‐8531