CHARLESTON – A senior status judge has been appointed to preside over Circuit Judge James C. Stucky’s cases for the time being.
Judge Thomas Evans III is a retired judge from Jackson County and will hear cases for Stucky temporarily while he is unavailable to preside.
Stucky advised West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Justice Margaret Workman that he would be temporarily unavailable to preside and requested that another judge be appointed to preside over his cases during his absence.
Workman said Evans would preside over the cases until Stucky returned or until she deemed his assistance was no longer needed. He took over for Stucky on March 12.
Stucky has been absent since the beginning of March. Before Evans was appointed, other Kanawha circuit court judges were covering Stucky’s caseload.