Justice Beth Walker will be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia beginning January 1, 2023. The Supreme Court has also designated Justice Tim Armstead to serve as chief justice in 2024. Justice Armstead will serve as acting chief justice in 2023 whenever Chief Justice Walker is unable to participate in a case. Justice Walker was also chief justice in 2019. She was elected to the Supreme Court in 2016 and took office January 1, 2017. “We focused on rebuilding public confidence in the judiciary during my first tenure as chief justice,” Justice Walker noted. “Since then, all five members of the court have continued to work together as a team and navigated several challenges including Covid and the increasing number of children who our courts are called upon to protect in abuse and neglect cases.
I will be honored to continue the great work of my colleagues who have served in the chief justice role since 2019. “Our commitment to transparency and accountability has not wavered, and next year we will develop a strategic plan to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of our court system. We also look forward to the opening of our new judicial learning center in 2023, which will enhance our ongoing work on civics education,” Justice Walker said. Justice Armstead said, “Chief Justice Hutchison has done a tremendous job leading our courts in 2022. Through his leadership, the judiciary completed the historic implementation of the Intermediate Court of Appeals in a manner that utilizes technology to make the court system more accessible to the citizens of our state. I look forward to working with Chief Justice Walker and our fellow justices to build on the outstanding accomplishments made by Chief Justice Hutchison this past year.” “It continues to be the greatest honor of my life to serve on the Supreme Court,” said Chief Justice John Hutchison. “I have been honored to serve as Chief Justice in 2022.
I look forward to working with all the members of the court in the years to come.” Biographies and photos of the Justices are available on the West Virginia Judiciary website: http://www.courtswv.gov/supreme-court/justices-staff.html.
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