Jim Douglas (West Virginia)
Jim Douglas is a judge of the Eleventh Family Court Circuit in West Virginia. His term ended in 2022.
Douglas ran for election for judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He lost in the general election on June 9, 2020.
Douglas was elected to the Eleventh Family Court Circuit on May 10, 2016.[1]
Biography
Douglas earned his B.A. from the University of Charleston. He later received his M.A. and J.D. from West Virginia University. Douglas has been a private practice attorney since 1977.[2]
Elections
2020
See also: West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals elections, 2020
General election
General election for Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
William Wooton defeated Joanna I. Tabit, Kris Raynes, and Jim Douglas in the general election for Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | William Wooton (Nonpartisan) | 30.8 | 117,927 |
 | Joanna I. Tabit (Nonpartisan) | 29.6 | 113,116 | |
 | Kris Raynes (Nonpartisan)  | 19.9 | 76,191 | |
 | Jim Douglas (Nonpartisan) | 19.7 | 75,247 | |
| Total votes: 382,481 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2018
General election
Special general election for Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
The following candidates ran in the special general election for Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Evan Jenkins (Nonpartisan) | 36.0 | 182,133 |
 | Dennise Renee Smith (Nonpartisan) | 13.9 | 70,394 | |
 | Jeffrey Kessler (Nonpartisan) | 11.9 | 60,077 | |
| Jim Douglas (Nonpartisan) | 9.4 | 47,609 | |
 | Robert Frank (Nonpartisan) | 5.9 | 29,751 | |
 | William Stewart Thompson (Nonpartisan) | 5.9 | 29,613 | |
| Jim O'Brien (Nonpartisan) | 5.7 | 28,766 | ||
 | Brenden Long (Nonpartisan) | 4.0 | 20,443 | |
| Marty Sheehan (Nonpartisan) | 3.7 | 18,639 | ||
 | William Schwartz (Nonpartisan) | 3.6 | 18,291 | |
| Total votes: 505,716 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
West Virginia held general elections for county judicial offices on May 10, 2016. This date coincided with partisan primaries for statewide and federal offices. The 2016 election was the first nonpartisan election for the state's judicial seats since statehood in 1863. Learn more about this change here. Candidates interested in filing for the election submitted paperwork by January 30, 2016. Jim Douglas defeated incumbent Sharon Mullens in the general election for the West Virginia Family Court Circuit 11, Division 5 seat.[1]
| West Virginia Family Court Circuit 11, Division 5 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jim Douglas |
51.59% | 18,151 |
| Sharon Mullens Incumbent | 48.41% | 17,030 |
| Total Votes | 35,181 | |
| Source: West Virginia Secretary of State, "Election Results Center," accessed May 10, 2016 | ||
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election of judges
Judges of the West Virginia Family Courts are each elected to six- and eight-year terms. Their initial term is six years and every subsequent term is eight years.[3] The elections for this court are nonpartisan contested elections. To serve on this court, a judge must be a state citizen, a circuit resident, at least 30 years of age and have five years of law practice in the state.[4]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jim Douglas did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Douglas' campaign website listed the following themes for 2016:
| “ |
The United State Constitution, Amendment XIV, guarantees all Americans equal protection of the laws of this country and the various states. Therefore, it is essential that courts promote and pay homage to the venerable predictability function of the law. This means that in a given factual context, the legal result should be the same each and every time those same facts are presented in a dispute. This is indispensable for practitioners to be able to advise their clients in law suits. Nowhere is this concept more necessary than in the field of family law. Families are the veritable bedrock of our American society. Nothing should command more attention in the legal world than matters involving families and children. So, West Virginia Family Courts need to try to get it right for the sake of not only the current litigants, but the litigants that follow. We must not only account for the making of our laws, we must predict the outcome of their application. Law must be honored and invoked, but tempered with equity. Sometimes courts have no signposts in the laws, then, in such case, they must do that which should be or should have been done. A Family Judge must be guided by, indeed he or she must pledge fealty to, four (4) basic principles: 1. All citizens have the right of access to their courts and the equal right to be heard when they get there. The West Virginia Constitution, Article III, Section 17 assures West Virginians of this. Therefore, Family Court Judges should not limit the amount of time any party can have to present his or her case. 2. The law favors speedy justice. Continuances, then, should not be easily or lightly given by a judge. Lawyers should be prepared to go to court. 3. No one can realize the right to go to court, or to plead his or her case, or to have prompt relief if court is not convened or open. Thus, a judge has to hold court, and he or she should have to work if they are going to hold judicial office. Of course, even judges need vacations, but judges should get to court promptly and be prepared to stay after regular quitting time in order to finish a case. Orders from a hearing should be promptly prepared, and a judge should quickly enter proper orders. A delay in the writing and filing or family court orders can occasion loss, defeat resolution of issues, impede finality of disputes, and disrupt the appellate process. 4. And in the end: "...it is our future that lays down our law of today." - Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human |
” |
| —Jim Douglas (2016), [6] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
- Courts in West Virginia
- Local trial court judicial elections, 2016
- Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
- West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals special elections, 2018
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
- West Virginia Judiciary Court Information by County
- Campaign website
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 West Virginia Secretary of State, "Candidate Search," accessed February 16, 2016
- ↑ Jim Douglas for Family Court Judge, "Resume," accessed April 27, 2016
- ↑ West Virginia Judiciary, "Family Courts," accessed September 25, 2014
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: West Virginia; Limited Jurisdiction Courts," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Jim Douglas for Family Court Judge, "Philosophy," accessed April 27, 2016
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Northern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Northern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia
State courts:
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia • West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals • West Virginia Circuit Courts • West Virginia Family Courts • West Virginia Magistrate Courts • West Virginia Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in West Virginia • West Virginia judicial elections • Judicial selection in West Virginia
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