Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced several recent appointments to his administration.
His newly announced appointments to the Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission will play a part in determining the next state Supreme Court justice appointed by the governor.
A couple of the other announced appointments have served recently in the state Legislature.
Delegate David Kelly, a Republican from Tyler County who was a two-term sheriff, has been named to lead the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Former Delegate Heather Glasko-Tully, a Republican from Nicholas County and a professional nurse, has been named to serve on the West Virginia Health Care Authority.
The appointments announced by the governor include:
Department of Homeland Security
Doug Buffington, acting secretary of Homeland Security
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- Effective immediately, Buffington will become acting secretary of the agency. He currently has responsibility for Department of Homeland Security issues in his role as senior advisor to the governor. Buffington will serve in both roles during the interim. Previously, Buffington served as chief deputy Attorney General when Morrisey was the Attorney General.
James Canaday – Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
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- Canaday has nearly 25 years of experience in law enforcement, currently serving as the state law enforcement Liaison for the West Virginian Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Previously, he served in a number of positions at the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office, including sheriff and chief deputy.
Robert Workman – Director of the Fusion Center
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- Workman is a retired West Virginia State Trooper with nearly 28 years experience. He is currently the chief investigator for the West Virginia State Police assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.
David Kelly – Commissioner, WV Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation
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- Kelly is a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing the 6th District. He spent 20 years in law enforcement and served on the Tyler County Commission before running for the legislature.
West Virginia Parkways Authority
The West Virginia Parkways Authority is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the West Virginia Turnpike, including toll collection, construction and repairs.
Dwayne “Chuck” Smith – executive director
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- Smith became the director of facilities planning for Kanawha County Schools in February of 2022 after serving as the executive director of facilities planning since 2018. He was previously the president of Quatro, Inc., and has extensive experience overseeing large-scale construction projects and managing outside vendors and consultants.
Health Care Authority
The West Virginia Health Care Authority regulates the need for capital expenditures of covered services for health facilities through the certificate of need program, along with collecting, analyzing and disseminating health care financial and clinical data to assess utilization, access, costs and quality.
Heather Glasko-Tully
- Glasko-Tully is a family nurse practitioner with West Virginia Federally Qualified Health Center experience. She spent 13 years as an intensive care unit nurse at a West Virginia hospital and was the former vice chair of the Committee on Health & Human Resources in the House of Delegates.
Doug McKinney
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- McKinney is a retired physician who served for ten years as chief of urology at the veterans medical care center in Clarksburg and spent four years on the health policy committee of the American Urological Association. He is the former president of the West Virginia State Medical Association and WVU Medical School Alumni Association.
Robert Cheren
- Cheren is senior counsel at Empower Oversight and formerly served as the special assistant to the West Virginia Attorney General.
Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission
The Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission consists of four attorneys and four non-attorneys and functions to assist the governor in filling judicial vacancies.
A prominent judicial vacancy is coming up quickly because of the announced retirement of state Supreme Court Justice Beth Walker on June 27.
The Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission will collect applications, conduct interviews and make recommendations to the governor, who will appoint a replacement.
Governor Morrisey announced the appointment of three attorneys to the Judicial Vacancy Commission from a slate of candidates submitted to him by the West Virginia State Bar:
- Michael P. Donnelly, Charles Town, Jefferson County, for a term ending June 30, 2031. Donnelly is the chief operating officer and general counsel for Club for Growth and an adjunct professor of law at Regent University
- D. Luke Furbee, Middlebourne, Tyler County, for a term ending June 30, 2031. Furbee is the Tyler County prosecuting attorney and a past member of the board of governors of the West Virginia State Bar.
- Marc E. Williams, Huntington, Cabell County, for a term ending June 30, 2031. Williams is the managing partner of the West Virginia office of Nelson Mullins, handling complex cases nationally in an array of litigation areas. He has had first-chair responsibility for more than 100 jury trials and appeals in his career.
The governor has also appointed three public members to the commission:
- Jeff Lyon, Pipestem, Summers County, for a term ending June 30, 2031. Lyon is a native and longtime resident of Summers County. He worked in the construction and appliance repairs business, including owning a major appliance repair business for 21 years. Lyon also served as the chairman of the Republican Executive Committee from 2016-2023.
- Jason Huffman, Charleston, Kanawha County, for the term ending June 30, 2031. He serves as the state director for Americans for Prosperity-West Virginia, which actively supported Morrisey in the last election. Previously, Huffman was operations director for the West Virginia Republican Party and a policy analyst for the West Virginia State Senate.
- Gwyneth M. Capehart, Winfield, Putnam County, for the term ending June 30, 2031. Capehart is an 8th-generation West Virginian and a native of Winfield. She is a senior honor student at Marshall University with plans to obtain a doctorate in occupational therapy.