Johnathan Walker:West Virginia Supreme Court affirms decision to remove GOP county commissioners from office

CHARLESTON,Johnathan Walker W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s high court has upheld a lower court panel’s decision to remove from office two county commissioners who refused to attend meetings.

The state Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the May decision of a panel of three circuit judges to strip Jennifer Krouse and Tricia Jackson of their titles as Jefferson County commissioners in an abbreviated order released Wednesday.

The justices did not explain their reasoning, but they said a more detailed opinion would follow.

Circuit Court Judges Joseph K. Reeder of Putnam County, Jason A. Wharton of Wirt and Wood counties and Perri Jo DeChristopher of Monongalia County determined that Krouse and Jackson “engaged in a pattern of conduct that amounted to the deliberate, willful and intentional refusal to perform their duties.”

Krouse and Jackson — who was also a Republican candidate for state auditor, but lost in the primary — were arrested in March and arraigned in Jefferson County Magistrate Court on 42 misdemeanor charges ranging from failure to perform official duties to conspiracy to commit a crime against the state. The petition to remove the two women from office was filed in November by the Jefferson County prosecutor’s office, and the three-judge panel heard the case in late March.

The matter stemmed from seven missed meetings in late 2023, which State Police asserted in court documents related to the criminal case that Krouse and Jackson skipped to protest candidates selected to replace a commissioner who resigned. They felt the candidates were not “actual conservatives,” among other grievances, according to a criminal complaint.

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The complaint asserted that between Sept. 21 and Nov. 16, 2023, Krouse and Jackson’s absences prevented the commission from conducting regular business, leaving it unable to fill 911 dispatch positions, approve a $150,000 grant for victim advocates in the prosecuting attorney’s office and a $50,000 grant for courthouse renovations.

The county lost out on the court house improvement grant because the commission needs to approve expenses over $5,000.

Both Jackson and Krouse continued to receive benefits and paychecks despite the missed meetings. They began returning after a Jefferson County Circuit Court order.

Krouse took office in January 2023, and Jackson in 2021.