The West Virginia Supreme Court has upheld a ruling by a three-judge panel to remove Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse from the Jefferson County Commission based on their refusal to attend meetings and conduct the business of the county.
A two-page filing by the Supreme Court indicated the justices acted without undue delay, expedited the case, placed it under consideration without oral arguments and concluded that Jackson and Krouse were correctly removed from the commission. The justices said a more detailed opinion will be published at a later date.
Jackson and Krouse filed their appeal to the Supreme Court just days ago, July 30. Jefferson County Prosecutor Matt Harvey filed a response on August 1.
Jackson and Krouse were accused of failing in their duty to perform their duties by willfully refusing to attend commission meetings, starting last September. Moreover, they repeatedly refused to meet and help select a fifth commissioner who would fill a vacancy.
The conflict dates back to the resignation of Commissioner Clare Ath, effective June 16, 2023. That left four members.
An initial attempt for the remaining commissioners to choose a fifth resulted in a split on June 23, 2023. Of five potential nominees, Krouse and Jackson favored Isabel Simon. The other two commissioners favored Matthew McKinney.
The tie meant the matter was referred to the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee to choose three possibilities and present them to the commission.
Once the three candidates were presented to the commission, an argument about eligibility broke out during an August 17, 2023,meeting. Krouse and Jackson then refused to participate if the selection process continued.
Krouse posted on her Facebook page that evening that the Republican committee had not provided “three actual conservatives for the Commission to review. Unfortunately, far too many of the elected ‘Republicans’ in West Virginia seem to be either incompetent, self-interested, closeted liberals, or some combination thereof.”
After that, Jackson and Krouse posted statements to their Facebook pages to say they were protesting the meetings by denying a quorum.
Local officials contended that being unable to get a quorum resulted in real-life consequences including failure to hire and promote essential county employees, failing to approve contracts including a security contract for the county’s computer software, failure to release bonds or letters of credit, failure to approve grant applications and more.
The two commissioners continued to accept pay for their elected positions, despite not participating in the work of the county over a period of weeks.
The two finally agreed to participate in a meeting and fill the vacancy late last November after a local business filed cause and a judge ordered the commissioners to get to work. The commissioner finally chosen was Pasha Majdi, a Harpers Ferry resident who calls himself a “freedom-loving conservative conservationist.”
The filing to remove Krouse and Jackson was made last November. Hearings were in late March.
At their removal hearing before the three-judge panel, attorney Traci Wiley argued the two were not guilty of misconduct. Wiley also blamed Jefferson County Commission President Steve Stolipher for continually leaving the item on the county commission agenda that Krouse and Jackson refused to attend meetings over. Wiley called the whole process a “legal impossibility.”
The three-judge panel of judges Joseph Reeder, Perri Jo DeChristopher and Jason Wharton on May 1 agreed that the evidence was enough to conclude the two commissioners should be removed from office.
The three-judge panel agreed that the evidence was enough to conclude the two commissioners should be removed from office.
“This court therefore FINDS the Respondents willfully ignored this duty, prioritized their own agendas over the needs of the citizens of Jefferson County, and weaponized their deliberate and intentional refusal to attend meetings and appoint a Fifth Commissioner in order for the Respondents to advance their own agenda,” the three-judge panel wrote.