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The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the intermediate appellate court in West Virginia, created pursuant to the West Virginia Appellate Reorganization Act of 2021. [1]
It has jurisdiction over the following appeals, subject to further appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals:
The court has no original jurisdiction and no criminal jurisdiction. [1]
In matters involving a question of fundamental public importance, or cases in which time is of the essence, either party may petition that the court be bypassed and the case heard by the Supreme Court of Appeals. [2]
The court is required to issue a written opinion on every case properly before it. These opinions are binding precedent, unless overruled on further appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals or the United States Supreme Court. [3]
The court is empowered to hold court at any county seat in the state. [3]
The court system purchased the City Center East office building in the Kanawha City neighborhood of Charleston, and the court is housed there. A court room was constructed on the first floor of the building. [4]
The court decided to hold hearings, as appropriate, in Grant, Lewis, Morgan, Raleigh and Wetzel counties, when the lawyers involved reside in those regions. [5] In those cases it will use existing county owned facilities.
The court consists of three judges. Each are elected on a non-partisan basis for ten year terms. [1]
In the event that a judge is recused the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall appoint a current circuit judge to temporary duty on the court.
The Act provides that the Governor will appoint the original judges for staggered terms. On December 29, 2021, Governor Jim Justice appointed the three original judges to the court, who all took office on July 1, 2022.
Thomas E. Scarr of Huntington was appointed to a two and one half year term. [6] His seat will be up for election in the May election of 2024, with the elected official taking office on January 1, 2025.
Daniel W. Greear of Charleston was appointed to a four and one half year term. [6] His seat will be up in the May election of 2026, with the elected official taking office on January 1, 2027. He is the Chief Judge. [7]
Charles Lorensen of Charleston was appointed to the six and one half year term. [8] His seat will be up in the May election of 2028, with the elected official taking office on January 1, 2029.
Originally, Donald A. Nickerson, Jr. of Wheeling was appointed instead of Lorensen, but declined the appointment, stating that did not wish to relocate to Charleston. [9]
Judge Scarr declined to run for the full elected term. The election will be held on a non-partisan basis. Three candidates filed for the seat. Elgine Hecteta McArdale, a Wheeling attorney; Mychal S. Schulz, a Charleston attorney; and S. Ryan White, also a Charleston attorney and member of the county school board. < [10] >
In the United States, a state supreme court is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in both state and federal courts.
The Supreme Court of Maryland is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis. The term of the Court begins the second Monday of September. The Court is unique among American courts in that the justices wear red robes.
The Court of Appeals of Virginia, established January 1, 1985, is an intermediate appellate court of 17 judges that hears appeals from decisions of Virginia's circuit courts and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. The Court sits in panels of at least three judges, and sometimes hears cases en banc. Appeals from the Court of Appeals go to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 to 1915, it was also required by state law to hold sessions in Charles Town in the state's Eastern Panhandle. The court also holds special sittings at various locations across the state.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit.
Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard was an American lawyer and former judge from West Virginia. In 1996 he was elected as a Democrat to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. A judge of West Virginia's 30th Judicial Circuit for over 16 years, he was elected as a Democrat to a 12-year term on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in 1996.
Margaret Lee Workman is an American lawyer and a former justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Her 1988 election to the Supreme Court made her the first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia and first female Justice on the Court.
Menis E. Ketchum II is an American politician and jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He was elected as a Democrat to a twelve-year term on the Court in November 2008 and served as chief justice in 2012 and served a second term as chief justice in 2016. He resigned in July 2018 with slightly less than 18 months left in his term. Ketchum resigned prior to the Impeachment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, but was still implicated by the House of Delegates. On July 31, 2018, he pled guilty to a felony count of fraud related to his personal use of a state vehicle and gas fuel card.
The Government of West Virginia is modeled after the Government of the United States, with three branches: the executive, consisting of the Governor of West Virginia and the other elected constitutional officers; the legislative, consisting of the West Virginia Legislature which includes the Senate and the House of Delegates; and the judicial, consisting of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and lower courts.
Michael Caputo is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the West Virginia Senate, representing the 13th District since 2020. Caputo was the only new Democratic senator elected in the 2020 Senate elections.
Timothy Paul Armstead is an American politician who has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia since 2018. He is the designate to serve as chief justice in 2024. He formerly represented 40th District in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Armstead is originally from Clendenin, West Virginia. He is a graduate of the University of Charleston and West Virginia University College of Law.
Robin Jean Davis is an American jurist who served on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. First elected to fill an unexpired term in 1996, Davis later won full twelve-year terms in 2000 and 2012. However, Davis retired before the end of her second full term in August 2018 after the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee named Davis in articles of impeachment during the Impeachment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
The West Virginia Circuit Courts are the West Virginia state trial courts of general jurisdiction. They are the only state trial courts in West Virginia that are courts of record. West Virginia's 55 counties are divided into 31 circuits, each comprising anywhere from one to four counties. Different circuits have different numbers of judges; 11 circuits have only a single judge. Effective with the 2024 election, the circuits will be realigned into 30 circuits, with only one having a single judge.
Allen Hayes Loughry, II is a former justice on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
In West Virginia, magistrate courts are non-lawyer small claims and petty crime courts, established to replace the justice of the peace system in 1976. There are at least two magistrates in every county, and ten in the largest county, Kanawha. Magistrates have jurisdiction over civil cases in which the financial amount in dispute is less than ten thousand dollars. They hear misdemeanor cases and conduct preliminary examinations in felony cases. In criminal cases they issue and record affidavits, complaints, arrest warrants, and search warrants, as well as set bail and make decisions concerning proposed plea agreements, the collection of courts costs, cash bonds, and fines. Magistrates issue emergency protective orders in cases involving domestic violence.
The Judiciary of Virginia is defined under the Constitution and law of Virginia and is composed of the Supreme Court of Virginia and subordinate courts, including the Court of Appeals, the Circuit Courts, and the General District Courts. Its administration is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Council, the Committee on District Courts, the Judicial Conferences, the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, and various other offices and officers.
Elizabeth D. "Beth" Walker is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals since 2017. She was elected in the Court's first non-partisan election on May 10, 2016. She began a 12-year term on January 1, 2017. Walker is the 77th justice to serve on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the same office in 2008. She has served as chief justice in 2019 and 2023.
The impeachment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia occurred on August 13, 2018, when the West Virginia House of Delegates voted to impeach all five justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia for charges relating to corruption, overspending, and lack of oversight. Despite being threatened in other states at other times, this is the only time in United States history that the entire bench of the highest court of a state has been impeached.
John A. Hutchison is an American lawyer serving as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He joined the court in 2018 and served as chief justice in 2022.
West Virginia held elections on November 3, 2020. The Democratic and Republican party primary elections were held on June 9, 2020. The 2020 elections marked a turning point history as Republicans solidified their dominance of West Virginia state & federal politics: they won all U.S. House seats, statewide executive offices & the U.S. Senate seat up for election while also expanding their majorities in both state legislative chambers, & President Trump won every county in the state and 68.62% of the statewide vote in his re-election bid, for a statewide margin of 38.93%.