West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Beth Walker plans to hang up her robe this summer, according to a letter she submitted to the chief justice.
Walker assumed office on Jan. 1, 2017. Her current term was set to end on Dec. 31, 2028.
In a letter addressed to the current chief justice, William Wooton, Walker says she intends to retire this June 27.
“I now do my part to usher in a new generation of leadership while spending more time with my family, friends and pursuing other interests,” Walker wrote.
The governor would appoint a new justice to serve.
Walker was elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals May 10, 2016. She ran in a crowded field that year and defeated incumbent Justice Brent Benjamin, former state Attorney Darrell McGraw, attorney Wayne King — and Wooton, a former state delegate who is now her colleague on the court.
She was the chief justice of the court from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2019.
She ran for a seat on the court in 2008 as a Republican, but a law passed in 2015 by the state Legislature made the 2016 judicial elections nonpartisan.
At the end of summer 2018, West Virginia’s House of Delegates voted to impeach all four of the state Supreme Court’s sitting justices. Justice Menis Ketchum resigned just prior to the impeachment inquiry.
Walker was named in only one article of impeachment, one dealing with alleged misuse of state funds by failure to implement a policy preventing improper spending. In other words, Walker was potentially being held accountable for the acts of her colleagues.
Walker was the only member of the Supreme Court to go through a trial in the state Senate. The others resigned or fought the impeachment process in the judicial system. On Oct. 2, 2018, the state Senate voted 32-1 not to remove Walker from the court.
Walker was the last justice remaining on the court from that tumultuous period.
“I am grateful to the people of this state who elected me. During my tenure we have achieved significant success in their name,” Walker wrote in her letter.
“We have restored public trust in the judicial branch of government by increasing transparency, accountability and impartiality while returning the focus of the judiciary to the rule of law. We have established a cooperative and functioning relationship with both the legislative and executive branches, which I hope endures for years to come.”
Walker graduated from Hillsdale College in 1987 and earned her graduate degree in law from Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1990.
Walker worked as an attorney for the West Virginia University Health System and was formerly a partner at the Bowles Rice firm, where she practiced labor and employment law for more than 20 years.
Her letter addressed to Wooton concluded by saying “I thank God, the people of West Virginia and my colleagues for the privilege of serving on this great Court. I wish you, our fellow justices and the entire judicial branch of our state continued success.”