BECKLEY — Gov. Jim Justice named his longtime friend Raleigh County Circuit Judge John Hutchison to a vacant seat on the state Supreme Court Wednesday, filling the seat held by convicted Justice Allen Loughry.
Loughry resigned from the court last month. He was convicted in October on several counts of fraud, the result of an investigation into court spending that he first contacted federal authorities about. Loughry is appealing the conviction.
He stepped down from the court after the House of Delegates scheduled a second vote on his impeachment. The first impeachment vote was thrown out by a fill-in Supreme Court after an appeal from Chief Justice Margaret Workman, who was also impeached by the House last summer.
Justice and Hutchison grew up together in Beckley. Hutchison delivered the oath of office when Justice was sworn-in as governor in January 2017. He did so in a private ceremony in Greenbrier County hours before the public ceremony in Charleston.
“I have known John Hutchison my entire life. He has been a Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge for 23 years and is one of the most conservative, respected jurists in the state of West Virginia,” Justice said Wednesday. “He has served on the state’s Mass Litigation panel since 1997. I spoke with some judges prior to making this appointment and they encouraged me to appoint a circuit judge to this position. I’m very pleased to appoint Judge Hutchison to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.”
Hutchison did not throw his hat into the ring when two other seats came open on the court earlier this year. Justice chose former Congressman Evan Jenkins and former House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead for vacancies created by the resignations of Justice Menis Ketchum, who plead guilty to a federal crime, and Justice Robin Davis, who resigned the day she was impeached by the House of Delegates.
Jenkins and Armstead were both elected in November. Jenkins has a six-year term. Armstead’s seat will be up for election again in May 2020.
Hutchison was one of 17 people who made application for the Loughry vacancy. He, along with more than a dozen others, interviewed with the state Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission Tuesday. State code authorizes the governor to make the final decision.
Justice and Hutchison appeared for the brief announcement Wednesday afternoon at the Raleigh County Courthouse.
Hutchison will serve until the May 2020 election, when Loughry’s unexpired term will be up. The candidate elected in that race will serve until December 2024, the end of Loughry’s original 12-year term.
Hutchison and Justice attended Woodrow Wilson High School and played basketball together 50 years ago.
Hutchison was appointed circuit judge in Raleigh County by Gov. Gaston Caperton in 1995. He was elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2000, 2008 and 2016.
Hutchison’s appointment to the Ccurt means temporary Justice Paul Farrell, who has served since Aug. 9 when he was appointed to sit-in for the suspended Loughry by Workman, will return to his courtroom in Cabell County.
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