MORGANTOWN — The Monongalia County Commission announced Wednesday that it is accepting letters of interest and resumes from individuals interested in becoming the county’s chief litigator.
Early last week, Gov. Jim Justice announced that he was appointing Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopher to fill retiring Judge Phillip Gaujot’s seat in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court serving Monongalia County.
DeChristopher steps into her new role on Jan. 1 at which time she’ll also become the court’s chief judge as Gaujot has one year remaining on his two-year rotation.
The commission is now tasked with filling the soon-to-be-vacant prosecutor’s seat.
Commissioner Jeff Arnett said letters of interest and resumes will be accepted by the commission office until 5 p.m. Jan. 11.
Interested parties must be a registered Democrat.
Commissioner Sean Sikora said the commission’s goal is to have someone named and ready to step into the job effective Feb. 1.
DeChristopher was reelected as prosecutor in 2020 and leaves the position with two years remaining on her second, four-year term.
In other court-related county news, the commission took a moment to recognize Susan Trowbridge, who is retiring this week after 48 years in the circuit clerk’s office.
Trowbridge and her longtime boss, Circuit Clerk Jean Friend, will step away this week taking some 108 years of institutional knowledge with them.
Incoming Circuit Clerk Donna Hidock said Trowbridge’s retirement will be a “total loss” for her office.
“She made it possible for us to have a small staff … When I go to clerk’s meetings they ask, ‘How do you run an office with six employees?’ It’s because it’s all right up here,” Hidock said, gesturing to Trowbridge.
The commissioners said they will have a resolution honoring Friend at the Jan. 4 meeting. Friend, who won her first election in 1962, is believed to be the longest serving elected official in West Virginia history.
Lastly, the commission honored former Monongalia County Circuit Judge and West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher, who died on Christmas Eve at the age of 80.
Commission President Tom Bloom said he was a college freshman when Starcher tapped him as the WVU liaison for an initiative that would ultimately become the Youth Services Center.
“He was an individual who clearly wanted to make sure the law met everybody,” Bloom said. “That was his thing.”
Arnett, an attorney, said he’s known the Starcher family his entire life and called the former judge “a mentor.”
“I remember at my swearing-in. He was on the bench as Chief Justice. I had forgotten to tell my parents to come. I didn’t know you brought your parents to that kind of thing. So I was just with the crowd that didn’t have anyone with them. He stopped the whole proceeding and brought me up front and made me get a picture with him,” Arnett said. “It was a nice moment and I always appreciated that.”
