CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Attorney Tish Chafin has dropped out of the running to be the next Mingo County circuit judge.
Chafin was one of a handful of candidates to express interest to the Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission that will recommend possible replacements for disgraced former circuit judge Michael Thornsbury to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
(Read Tish Chafin letter here)
In a letter to the commission, Chafin said there are a number of good candidates for the job and she’s decided to focus on the two things she loves: her family and her job of practicing law.
Chafin ran unsuccessfully for state Supreme Court last year. She’s the wife of Mingo County Senator Truman Chafin who served as the Senate majority leader for years when Gov. Tomblin was Senate president.
Other candidates for the job are Robert H. Carlton, Jonathan Wayne Jewell, Steven Johnston Knopp, Teresa McCune, Glen R. Rutledge II and Mingo Family Court Judge Miki Thompson. Interviews are scheduled before the commission Dec. 16.
Thornsbury pleaded guilty last month to a federal crime. The former judge violated the constitutional rights of George White, a Mingo County sign maker who was talking with federal authorities about drug problems in the county.
White is scheduled to be in court Friday as Senior Status Judge John Cummings considers a motion to set aside his earlier guilty plea to a drug charge. The hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. in Williamson.