Government Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Two Jefferson County Commissioners Removed From Office For Skipping Meetings

Jefferson County Commissioners Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse were removed from office by a West Virginia circuit court Wednesday for skipping weeks of meetings last fall.

A West Virginia circuit court removed two members of the Jefferson County Commission from office Wednesday.

From September to November 2023, Commissioners Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse refused to attend meetings to protest vacancy proceedings, while still collecting their paychecks. This left the commission regularly unable to meet quorum and conduct business.

The controversy began when a sitting commissioner stepped down last June. Per vacancy protocols, the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee put forth three candidates to fill the seat, but Krouse expressed criticism on Facebook over their selections.

“Too many of the elected ‘Republicans’ in West Virginia seem to be either incompetent, self-interested, closeted liberals, or some combination thereof,” she wrote.

Jackson and Krouse, then both Republicans, refused to attend meetings until vacancy discussions ceased. They ended their protest last November, after a judge ordered them to resume attending meetings.

Still, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey, also a Republican, filed a petition in the Jefferson County Circuit Court to remove the commissioners from office last November.

In the petition, Harvey wrote that Jackson and Krouse “willfully blocked the commission from performing its mandatory statutory duty,” because they could not meet quorum to host meetings.

During their absence, the commission was unable to hire new 911 dispatchers, provide grant funding to victim advocates or apply for funds to improve the county courthouse, the Associated Press previously reported.

A decision reached by the circuit court Wednesday agreed with Harvey’s claims, stating that the commissioners’ willful absence marked either “official misconduct” or a “neglect of duty.”

The court order immediately removed Jackson and Krouse from office, and required that they forfeit “records, papers and property of their office,” including the login information for email accounts used to conduct commission business.

Jackson, Krouse, Harvey and sitting Commission President Stephen Stolipher did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

But Jackson — a current candidate for state auditor — expressed vehement disapproval over the decision on Facebook, likening her removal from office to the current legal upheaval facing former President Donald Trump.

“The people of Jefferson County are witnessing an injustice. The entire system is being exposed,” she wrote. “The lawfare (sic) attacks on President Trump that we are witnessing on the national level are now happening in West Virginia. Just like with President Trump, my opponents have weaponized the legal system.”

Jackson said her attorney would file an immediate appeal over the decision.

Meanwhile, Krouse has not shared public comments to social media regarding her removal. On April 22, she cut ties with the Republican Party, changing her affiliation to the progressive West Virginia Mountain Party.

With two of its seats now vacant, the commission will soon undergo vacancy protocols like those that began in June. The commissioners’ parties will have the opportunity to nominate candidates to fill their seats, and members of the commission will vote for a candidate to assume the roles.

At this time, party officials say it is unclear whether candidates to fill Krouse’s former seat will be selected by the Republican Party or the Mountain Party.

Representatives from the Mountain Party said they are awaiting a clarification from the Secretary of State’s office, and representatives from the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee did not immediately respond to request for comment.

State, National Organizations Petition W.Va. Supreme Court To Keep Huntington, Cabell Opioid Case Alive

A group of national and state organizations are asking the state Supreme Court to side with Cabell County and Huntington in their lawsuit against major opioid distribution companies.

The Amici Curiae, or friends of the court, are organizations that have an interest in the outcome of the case.

“The opioid crisis represents one of the greatest threats to public health in our lifetime, with profound consequences for the communities Amici serve,” the Amici said in the brief.

The case pivots on the legal definition of what is considered a public nuisance. After Judge David Faber ruled narrowly on what defines a public nuisance, Cabell and Hunting lost their case against the companies. The Amici told the court in its brief that Faber’s decision was overly restrictive and inconsistent with West Virginia law.

“(The decision) prevents opioid distributors from being held responsible for the costs of abating the crisis they caused,” the Amici said in the brief. “And improvidently diminishes their duty to avert the further spread of the crisis to almost nothing.”

The localities appealed the decision in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which asked the state Supreme Court to define the legal reach and definition of a public nuisance.

The Cabell County Case needs a broad description to stay alive, much like what the state of West Virginia used in a separate suit.

“The court should answer the certified question in the affirmative, holding that West Virginia Common Law defines public nuisance to include the conditions caused by distribution of controlled substances,” the Amici said in the brief.

The organizations represented in the brief are the National Association of Counties, the County Executive of America, the National League of Cities, the International Municipal Lawyers Association, the West Virginia Sheriffs Association, the West Virginia Association of Counties, the County Commissioners Association of West Virginia, and the West Virginia Municipal League.

In the brief they said that a narrow definition would absolve major drug companies of their responsibility for creating an opioid epidemic.

Candidates In Attorney General Primary Explain Their ‘Missions’

The four primary candidates running for AG, two Republicans and two Democrats, have diverse views on the overall mission of the office.

The attorney general’s (AG) job according to state code is to enforce West Virginia’s laws as they relate to – listed in order – consumer protection, unfair trade practices, civil rights and other important areas.

The four primary candidates running for AG, two Republicans and two Democrats, have diverse views on the overall mission of the office.

Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, and former U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District, said the attorney general’s mission goes into two separate buckets, the first being advancing freedoms by pushing back against federal overreach.

“The freedom to drill, frack and mine. I call it the beautiful bounce for energy beneath our feet,” Stuart said. “The freedom to push back against federal overreach that tries to shut down our jobs, that fights against our values. We’ve really gotten to a point of great federal intervention in every aspect of our lives, whether it’s education, whether it’s the transgender radical movements that we see today, whether it’s the second amendment, it’s the attorney general, the only person who can take on the federal government to push back when they try to cram their values down our throats.”

Democratic AG candidate Richie Robb, a Vietnam veteran and former eight-term South Charleston mayor, said consumer protection leads his mission list. Robb plans to focus on utility bills and combating fraud.

“First of all, stepping in to assist the Public Service Commission and their consumer advocacy group in combating utility rate increases as well as utility services,” Robb said. “We have the fourth highest utility rates in the country, and the highest number of power outages. On fraud, it seems to be more prevalent now, and more dangerous, that’s the word I use particularly with respect to the internet and artificial intelligence.”

Like Stuart, Republican candidate, and State Auditor J.B. McCuskey said the attorney general’s mission is two pronged. The first prong; to defend the laws and values of West Virginia against people who want to change them to their own preference.

“What we see is that people from D.C. and New York and California don’t want family centered, traditional value states that depend on natural resources for their economy to be successful,” McCuskey said. “You have unelected bureaucrats throughout the federal government, overstepping their legal and constitutional bounds, in order to fulfill political ideologies.”

Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva is the other Democratic attorney general candidate. She said the key to the AG’s mission is to prosecute civil lawsuits where citizens and taxpayers are harmed.

“There are laws, and I trust laws, that only the attorney general can prove damages in a certain way that allows you to actually collect damages for taxpayers,” Toriseva said. “We have bad actors in every single industry, and those actors need to be regulated by some law enforcement agency, and that’s the attorney general. The way the attorney general helps with those simple but pervasive fraud is through education information. One of the things that I want are more satellite offices around the state.”

Stuart said consumer protection is found in bucket two of his AG’s mission. He began that second bucket answer with attacking the drug problem.

“Consumers need protection from the drug dealers that are violating our families, killing our kids and destroying our communities,” Stuart said. “I spent years on the front lines of the opiate crisis. When it comes to traditional consumer protection, whether it’s Medicaid fraud, whether it’s landlord-tenant relationships, whether it’s getting ripped off by a utility company, I intend to be incredibly aggressive.“

Robb said he would not be in lockstep with the current AG’s practice of joining in multi-state lawsuits against the federal government.

“I’m not saying I would not do that. But I would look at it with a great deal of circumspection,” Robb said. “I think if it’s something that I believe will benefit the people of West Virginia, as opposed to a political agenda, I wouldn’t cast it aside with respect to the opioid settlements. But in many senses it’s closing the barn door after the horse has already got out. It’s trying to recoup losses and damages that have already been expended. I want to stop them before they happen.”

McCuskey said his second mission for AG is working as the state’s lawyer, representing citizens and all state government bureaucracies.

“Whoever the next governor is, is going to be relying on me as the attorney general to help them reorganize our bureaucracy in a way that is taxpayer centered,” McCuskey said. “In a way that emphasizes efficiency and effectiveness over added spending. And what I mean by that is, we don’t have a spending problem in West Virginia, we have a process problem. It’s high time that we start requiring our agencies to reform their process, as opposed to always blaming a lack of funding for their lack of results.”

Toriseva said a key to her mission as AG is transparency and trust, something she said the current office holder lacks.

“I don’t believe that the current AG has the trust of the voters,” Toriseva said. “I do not think that it is the AG’s job to be a partisan hack. My work has largely been representing public employees for the last decade, I mean, taxpayers, paid employees, first responders and whatnot. And that means that a lot of my work isn’t in the public eye and easy to read about.”

Voters can consider these differing candidate opinions on the mission of the attorney general’s office before casting their ballots on May 14.

Attorney General Race And A Conversation With Poet, Professor Sara Henning, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, according to state code, the attorney general’s job is to enforce West Virginia’s laws as they relate to – listed in order – consumer protection, unfair trade practices, civil rights and other important areas. As Randy Yohe shows us, the four primary candidates running for attorney general, two Republicans and two Democrats, have diverse views on the overall mission of the office.

On this West Virginia Morning, according to state code, the attorney general’s job is to enforce West Virginia’s laws as they relate to – listed in order – consumer protection, unfair trade practices, civil rights and other important areas. As Randy Yohe shows us, the four primary candidates running for attorney general, two Republicans and two Democrats, have diverse views on the overall mission of the office.

Also, in this show, Marshall University professor Sara Henning draws on personal history, taking some of the rough edges and smoothing them into art. Her latest book of poetry, Burn, was released earlier this month. Bill Lynch spoke with Henning about some of her background and what drew her to poetry.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Chris Schulz produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

In-Person Early Primary Voting Begins May 1

Early in-person voting in all 55 counties for West Virginia’s 2024 primary election runs from Wednesday, May 1 through Saturday, May 11.

The Secretary of State’s office said all counties will offer early voting during regular weekday hours at all county courthouses or courthouse annexes, and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Several counties will have additional community voting locations that are easily accessible to voters. Days and hours for community early voting locations will vary by county.

“Early voting is a convenient opportunity for many West Virginia voters to cast a ballot when it fits their schedule,” said Secretary of State Mac Warner, who is on the Republican primary ballot for governor. “With 10 days of early voting, which include two Saturdays, voters have plenty of opportunities to plan and participate safely and securely in our primary election.”

To find early voting locations in all 55 counties, click here.

Primary election day is Tuesday, May 14.

Justice Declares May ‘Older Americans Month’

Gov. Jim Justice has declared May 2024 Older Americans Month in West Virginia, aiming to honor older adults’ contributions to society and raise awareness of senior services.

In West Virginia, May 2024 has officially been recognized as Older Americans Month, following a proclamation from Gov. Jim Justice.

The designation aims to recognize “the contributions of our older citizens” and promote “programs and activities that foster connection, inclusion and support for older adults,” Justice said in the proclamation.

The idea for the month came from Kanawha Valley Senior Services (KVSS), a nonprofit based in Charleston, according to a Monday press release.

KVSS offers a range of services including health resources like the Aged and Disabled Waiver program and an adult day center for individuals living with Alzheimer’s.

Justice wrote in the proclamation that it was important to recognize the contributions of older adults to American society, and to spread awareness about aging resources in West Virginia.

“Older Americans improve our communities through intergenerational relationships, community service, civic engagement and many other activities,” he wrote. “Through their wealth of life experience and wisdom, older adults guide our younger generations and carry forward abundant cultural and historical knowledge.”

Each county in West Virginia has its own senior service program. Visit the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services website to find your local office.