CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has decided it will no longer pay dues to legal associations for its employees beginning in 2018.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Appeals issued a memo to court employees, informing them of the decision.
Gary Johnson, the administrator for the court, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that while Julie Yeager’s embezzlement investigation was not the cause of the new policy, the investigation made an ongoing review of judicial accounts more urgent.
Johnson told the Gazette-Mail that court officials had been going through judicial accounts since the beginning of the year in an effort to be good stewards of taxpayer money.
The new policy is expected to save the state $30,320 each year.
The Oct. 4 memo stated that the court has previously paid fall association dues for family court judges, magistrates, probation officers, magistrate court clerks and support staff. It also paid one-half of dues for Supreme Court justices and circuit judges.
Beginning with 2018, the money allocated to pay dues can be used for court-approved educational expenditures or legitimate expenditures.
Yeager served as a Kanawha County magistrate from 2004 until she abruptly resigned in July following a complaint about her alleged embezzlement. She was treasurer for the West Virginia Magistrate Association, where its alleged that she embezzled at least $14,000 from the association.
Yeager has not been criminally charged.