CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has rejected a removal petition for a Doddridge County commissioner after 100 citizens sought to kick him out of office.
The Supreme Court issued its memorandum decision on the matter on May 14. The petition originally was filed in 2016 against Doddridge County Commissioner Gregory Robinson.
Drannon L. Adkins, an attorney with Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe, represented Robinson in the state court action and the appeal.
Adkins
Adkins said he and fellow Pullin attorney Duane J. Ruggier II, who also worked on the case, were pleased they were able to help Robinson.
"We believed from the start that Commissioner Robinson was justified in his actions and the judicial system has confirmed that belief," Adkins said in a statement. "We are pleased that the three-judge panel and the Supreme Court agreed that Commissioner Robinson did not commit any unlawful acts.”
Adkins said it was always good to practice law when your client is helpful and appreciative.
"Mr. Robinson is a very good man," Adkins later told The West Virginia Record. "We think we did a good job for him, and he was very happy that things came out in his favor."
Adkins said the primary allegations in the suit involved a $50,000 grant award to a privately owned non-profit business called Doddridge County Emergency Squad (DCEMS).
At the meeting, the commissioners discussed and voted on the grant.
Robinson later realized that the agenda for the meeting in which the allegations were voted on was improper, so he issued a stop payment on the check to DCEMS, which upset the business and citizens.
Adkins said the issue was put on the agenda properly for the following meeting, but DCEMS did not show up, so it could not be voted on at that time.
One hundred citizens filed a petition for removal in November 2016, claiming Robinson had engaged in official misconduct.
A three-judge panel that was appointed by the chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals held an evidentiary hearing in April 2017 and concluded that Robinson was not in the wrong. The citizens then appealed that order to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court similarly agreed with the three-judge panel and concluded that the panel did not err when it found that the citizens had failed to meet their burden of proof and dismissed the petition to remove Robinson from office.
"This case was important not only to Commissioner Robinson, but also to the citizens of Doddridge County,” Ruggier said. "Commissioner Robinson is an excellent public servant and the only thing he was guilty of was looking out for the best interest of Doddridge County.”
The three-judge panel consisted of Circuit Judges Jack Alsop, Jacob E. Reger and Patrick N. Wilson.