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Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Justice Walker vacancy (June 2025)
| West Virginia Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Walker vacancy |
| Date: June 27, 2025 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Thomas Ewing |
| Date: August 6, 2025 |
Governor Patrick Morrisey (R) appointed Thomas Ewing to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia to replace outgoing Justice Beth Walker, who retired on June 27, 2025.[1] Ewing was appointed on August 6, 2025, and is Governor Morrisey's (R) first nominee to the five-member supreme court. He took office the same day.
In West Virginia, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement from a list of two to five qualified applicants submitted by a nominating commission.[2] The appointee serves until the next general election, at which point he or she may compete to fill the remainder of the unexpired term.[3]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- A list of finalists recommended to the governor.
- A list of candidates who applied to the vacancy.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
The appointee
- See also: Thomas Ewing
On August 6, 2025, Governor Patrick Morrisey (R) appointed Thomas Ewing to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia to replace outgoing Justice Beth Walker, who retired on June 27, 2025.[1][4]
Ewing served as a circuit judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Fayette County from 2018 to 2025. He has two bachelor's degrees from Glenville State College and a law degree from West Virginia University.[5]
Appointee candidates and nominations
Finalists
On July 18, 2025, the West Virginia Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission released a list of 4 finalists that made it through the interview process. These finalists are sent to Governor Patrick Morrisey (R) who will make the final appointment. The finalists were:[6]
- Circuit court judge Thomas Ewing
- Appellate judge Dan Greear
- Circuit court judge and former state delegate Todd Kirby
- Attorney and former U.S. attorney Shawn A. Morgan[7]
Applicants
The West Virginia Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission released a list of 15 applicants that had applied to fill the vacancy on the state's highest court. The applicants were:[8]
- Assistant Attorney General and retired family court judge Angela Alexander
- Attorney Matthew Chapman
- Associate law professor Cody Corliss
- Circuit court judge Thomas Ewing
- Circuit court judge Laura Faircloth
- Appellate judge Dan Greear
- West Virginia Secretary of Veteran's Assistance and former mayor of Clarksburg, West Virginia Ryan Kennedy
- Circuit court judge and former state delegate Todd Kirby
- Attorney and retired Circuit Court judge Harry Kirkpatrick III
- Attorney Brenden Long
- Attorney and former U.S. attorney Shawn A. Morgan
- Circuit court judge Steven Redding
- Attorney Mark Sadd
- Attorney Steven Thomas (Nebraska)
- Former deputy solicitor general for the Nebraska Department of Justice Zachary Viglianco[9]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in West Virginia
In West Virginia, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
Justices
Following Walker's retirement, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia included the following members:
| ■ Tim Armstead | Appointed by Gov. Jim Justice (R) in 2018 | |
| ■ C. Haley Bunn | Appointed by Gov. Jim Justice (R) in 2022 | |
| ■ Charles S. Trump IV | Elected in 2024 | |
| ■ William Wooton | Elected in 2020 |
About the court
Founded in 1872, the West Virginia Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is William Wooton. In 2018, the court decided 1,143 cases.
As of August 2025, two judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor. Two judges were also elected in a nonpartisan election.
The court meets in the Capitol Complex building in Charleston, West Virginia. The court is in session beginning on the second Tuesday in January and ending in June, and from the first Wednesday in September to November.[10]
About Justice Walker
- See also: Beth Walker
Walker graduated from Hillsdale College in 1987 and received her J.D. from Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1990.[11][12] Walker worked as an attorney for the West Virginia University Health System, .[12] She was formerly a partner at Bowles Rice, where she practiced labor and employment law for more than 20 years.[13]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, "Justice Walker Announces Retirement Effective June 27," April 21, 2025
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: West Virginia; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived January 13, 2012
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgeneral - ↑ West Virginia Office of the Governor - Patrick Morrisey, "Governor Patrick Morrisey Appoints Thomas H. Ewing to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia," August 6, 2025
- ↑ West Virginia Office of the Governor Patrick Morrisey, "Governor Patrick Morrisey Appoints Thomas H. Ewing to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia," August 6, 2025
- ↑ Note: Finalists are listed in alphabetical order.
- ↑ Metro News, "Four names sent to governor for filling state Supreme Court vacancy," July 18, 2025
- ↑ Note: Applicants are listed in alphabetical order.
- ↑ MetroNews, "Interviews ahead for 15 applicants to be appointed justice of WV Supreme Court," July 14, 2025
- ↑ West Virginia Judiciary, "Supreme Court of Appeals," accessed August 13, 2021
- ↑ Martindale.com, "Elizabeth D. Walker - Lawyer Profile" accessed August 8, 2021
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register, "Morgantown Attorney Beth Walker Seeks West Virginia Supreme Court Seat," archived May 13, 2016
- ↑ Beth Walker for Supreme Court, "Meet Beth," archived May 13, 2016
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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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