Gorby was elected in 2012 to a four-year term to serve as magistrate of Harrison County and on Oct. 10, 2014, he was suspended without pay pending the outcome of criminal charges pending against him.
That order remanded the matter to the Judicial Investigation Commission for the filing of formal charges and proceedings pursuant to Rules of Judicial Disciplinary Procedure and the formal statement of charges was filed on Nov. 21, 2014, and was held in abeyance pending the outcome of the criminal charges.
On July 5, Gorby was found not guilty and was acquitted on all counts in the indictment and the following day, Judicial Disciplinary Counsel Teresa A. Tarr filed a motion to dismiss the formal statement of charges against Gorby, according to the July 13 order.
Gorby, through his counsel, Belinda A. Haynie, filed a response to the motion to dismiss on July 11, along with a motion seeking reinstatement as a magistrate and recovery of the salary that was withheld during his suspension.
Gorby should be reinstated and is entitled to back pay, according to the Supreme Court’s order.
“It is therefore ordered that Mark A. Gorby shall be forthwith reinstated as a Magistrate for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit…upon compliance with his educational requirements,” the order states. “It is ordered that…Gorby shall receive back pay from October 10, 2014, the date he was suspended without pay, to the date that he is reinstated to his magistrate position.”
The motion to dismiss the formal statement of charges was granted and dismissed from the docket, according to the order.
W.Va. Supreme Court of Appeals case number: 14-1195
