Governor's Mansion Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Justice Attorneys File Residency Brief In W. Va. Supreme Court

Lawyers representing West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice filed a brief with the state Supreme Court of Appeals on Friday, regarding accusations Justice is violating a state constitutional provision by not taking up the governor’s mansion as his primary residence.

West Virginia’s constitution requires the governor and all five other elected constitutional officers — secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, treasurer and agricultural commissioner — to “reside at the seat of government during [his] terms of office.”

While the governor’s mansion is at 1716 Kanawha Boulevard East in Charleston, Justice has admitted to living almost two hours south in Lewisburg, Greenbrier County.

The brief filed Friday is the latest installment in a 18-month saga starting in June 2018, when Del. Isaac Sponaugle, D-Pendleton, first filed a complaint in Kanawha County Circuit Court requesting a writ of mandamus on the matter.

Sponaugle filed two more petitions until the court finally accepted his third filing that December.

Since then, Justice’s attorneys have fired back, claiming the word “reside” comes with a vague definition. In a news release, Justice said former acting U.S. Attorney General George Terwilliger was part of the legal team that filed the latest brief with the state Supreme Court.

Justice appointed three of the current justices on the state’s highest bench — Tim Armstead, Evan Jenkins and John Hutchison — to fill vacancies left by justices caught up in a scandal last year related to lavish spending. Armstead and Jenkins each won in a 2018 special election to finish their respective terms.

“The governor’s duty to ‘reside’ at the seat of government is vague and undefined, and necessarily implicates executive decisions as to where and how the governor spends his time on any given day,” the brief says.

Because that decision is an “executive decision,” the attorneys go on, the whole matter merits ‘separation of powers’ and doesn’t need judicial involvement. The brief requests the supreme court dismiss Sponaugle’s request “with prejudice.”

After Justice’s motion to dismiss was denied in July 2019, his attorneys requested Kanawha County Circuit Judge Charles King certify a list of questions for the state Supreme Court of Appeals to consider regarding the debate. The Associated Press reports King denied the motion in October.

At that August hearing when King considered the questions, Sponaugle said the case was significant because it demonstrates a disregard for state law by Justice.

“It starts there and floods down from there, onto various issues,” Sponaugle said in August. The legislator was unavailable for immediate comment Friday evening, saying he needed time to review the brief.

Justice Residency Case on Pause While Judge Considers Most Recent Motions

It appears that a now more-than-one-year-old case to determine where West Virginia’s governor constitutionally must reside will continue, after a hearing on the matter Wednesday morning.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Charles King told Gov. Jim Justice’s attorneys he will need more time to consider a pair of motions they filed in late July, halting the discovery process for the time being.

One motion asks King to explain why he shot down the lawyers’ request in July to dismiss the entire case, which Delegate Isaac Sponaugle filed last year.

Their second motion asks King to certify a list of questions the lawyers have for the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals, mostly relating to how they legally define the term “reside” and what their definition requires of Justice.

Sponaugle, a democrat in Pendleton County, filed the first of three lawsuits on the case last summer. He specifically asked for a “writ of mandamus” that would force Justice to meet the Constitution’s residency requirement.

During Wednesday’s hearing, more than a year later, he told King he opposed the attorney’s questions, calling them a “waste of time” and a “way to drag (the case) out.”

“The same arguments that were being presented back then are being presented now,” Sponaugle said. The delegate also says Justice’s legal team failed to adequately respond to a request for discovery he submitted last month. The attorneys had until August 15 to respond.

One of Justices’ attorneys, George Terwilliger, said on Wednesday the Supreme Court of Appeals’ response is necessary to address whether state leaders can legally force Justice to live at the designated governor’s mansion in Charleston at 1716 Kanawha Boulevard. Justice lives in Lewisburg, Greenbrier County.

Terwilliger said after Wednesday’s hearing that the residency requirement is more about where Justice spends his time working than it is about where he “lays his head at night.”

“It’s really about doing his business here, when he needs to do his business here,” Terwilliger said. “You don’t have to have a trial to figure out that this governor has been doing a lot of business for the people of West Virginia, both here in Charleston and elsewhere.”

According to Sponaugle, the governor’s refusal to live primarily in Charleston is indicative of what Sponaugle called his “refusal to work.”

Justice has come under fire often during his first term in office, most recently facing allegations of conflicts of interest.

In partnership with ProPublica, the Charleston Gazette-Mail last week published a more-than-6,000-word report on Justice’s businesses, and how they stand to benefit from the regulatory agencies he leads as governor.

The News-Sentinel published a report in July about a bill Justice signed that month, following the last special session, that will financially benefit a company his own organization is in a court battle with.

According to Sponaugle, the question of residency is a similarly significant controversy, simply because Justice’s alleged failure to comply with the law trickles into his other alleged violations of the law.

“It starts there and floods down from there, onto various issues,” Sponaugle said.

King has yet to decide what he’ll do with the motions Justice’s lawyers have filed.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Report: Governor's Mansion Has Hosted 7 Events this Year

The Governor’s Mansion in West Virginia has hosted seven private receptions, luncheons or dinners since Jan. 1, according to a newspaper report.

That works out to one event every 25 days so far this year, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

Most of the events were held during the legislative session, according to the newspaper, which obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

It says only two events have occurred since February, and those were within a three-day period recently.

Gov. Jim Justice has defended his refusal to live at the Governor’s Mansion, telling reporters recently that the mansion is “really busy” hosting receptions, luncheons, dinners and tours in his absence.

The governor argues he’s saving the state money by not living in the mansion. Justice has sometimes commuted to the Capitol from his home in Lewisburg.

Legislators from both political parties have raised concerns on the topic. Justice has dismissed the complaints as political posturing, saying modern technology keeps him apprised of everything happening at the Capitol.

During a recent news conference, Justice said mansion employees — including two chefs and two housekeepers — were kept busy hosting paid events under a new policy adopted by his administration.

Documents obtained from the governor’s office show that the Governor’s Mansion has hosted seven private events since Jan. 1, the newspaper said.

The events were:

— Feb. 10: A West Virginia Music Hall of Fame reception.

— Feb. 12: An Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia reception. A hand-written notation states $2,718.50 was paid. (The document misidentifies the group as the IAWV, rather than the IIAWV.)

— Feb. 13: A luncheon for Marshall University men’s basketball coach Dan D’Antoni, $60.

— Feb. 27: A reception for Mercer County Day at the Legislature.

—Feb. 28: A dinner for the United Telecommunications and Energy Coalition, $1,390. The group represents electric, natural gas, solid waste, telecommunications and water utilities. Members include First Energy, Frontier Communications, Verizon, West Virginia-American Water, Waste Management Inc., Appalachian Power, AT&T, Columbia Pipeline Group, Dominion Energy and EQT Corp.

—June 5: An International Public Management Association dinner, $1,390.

—June 7: A Charleston Pilot Club event.

The West Virginia Beverage Association, which represents the soft drink industry, reserved the mansion for a luncheon on Feb. 21 but canceled. The group paid a $450 cancellation fee.

The list did not include a “teacher recognition” event in April that a reporter was told was private but was attended by the state schools superintendent and state school board members.

The response also mentioned three events that were held in 2017 but weren’t paid for until 2018: two dinners for “Moody’s” totaling $159.81 on Aug. 29; an event for the Charleston and Charleston Vandalia Rotary clubs on Dec. 6 that totaled $3,172.50; and a Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation event on Dec. 14 that totaled $1,350.

Judge Halts Work on W.Va. Capitol Complex Security Project

Work on a security project at the Capitol Complex is on hold while a judge considers a contractor’s lawsuit.

McClanahan Construction of Poca is challenging the state’s decision to award the contract for the $3.4 million project to Wiseman Construction of Charleston.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit on Monday granted McClanahan’s request to temporarily stop work on the project.

McClanahan was the low bidder for the contract but was disqualified for submitting a nonconforming bid. Wiseman submitted the second lowest bid.

The state plans to install a fence surrounding the Governor’s Mansion and convert two parking lots adjacent to the Culture Center into a bus turnaround.

A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Commission Approves Fence Around W.Va. Governor's Mansion

State officials plan to install an ornamental fence and low wall around the Governor’s Mansion to improve security.

The project is the first phase of a perimeter security improvement plan developed by GAI Consultants for the Capitol Complex.

The Capitol Building Commission approved the plan Wednesday.

The plan calls for the limestone wall to ultimately be extended around the Capitol campus. The goal is prevent vehicles from driving onto the campus.

GAI Consultants architect Brian Kinzelman told the commission that the wall and fence design is based on a 1921 rendering by the Governor’s Mansion architect, Walter Martens. Martens proposed a brick wall, featuring brick pillars, topped with wrought iron fencing.