Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that Thomas Ewing, currently a circuit judge in Fayette County, will be appointed to the state Supreme Court.
“I have to say, on a personal level, I didn’t know Judge Ewing very well before this process started, but through the interview process he really did blow me away,” Morrisey said at a press conference today.
“This is someone who’s incredibly thoughtful. He’s highly qualified with impressive credentials. He’s come to us so highly recommended by everyone.”
Ewing took office as a circuit judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit, which covers Fayette County, on Jan. 2, 2019, after being appointed by Gov. Jim Justice on Dec. 7, 2018. He was elected in 2020 and re-elected in 2024.
During today’s announcement, Ewing said “I was motivated to pursue this appointment because I believed it was important for the state’s highest court to have the perspective of an experienced circuit judge.”
Ewing grew up in Hico and graduated from Midland Trail High School in Fayette County. He has bachelor’s degrees in education (2000) and history (2001) from Glenville State College and a 2004 law degree from West Virginia University, where he was Order of the Coif and executive research editor and associate editor of the West Virginia Law Review.
At Glenville State, he graduated summa cum laude and was a four-year member and captain of the men’s basketball team.
Ewing was an attorney with the law firm of Kay, Casto & Chaney, PLLC, from 2004 until his appointment to the bench in 2018 and was the managing member of its Fayetteville office from 2015 to 2018.
As circuit judge, Ewing presides over the Fayette County Adult Treatment Court and started and presides over the Fayette County Family Treatment Court, the Fayette County Teen Court and the Fayette County Truancy Diversion Program.
He has served as a commissioner on West Virginia’s Juvenile Justice Commission since 2019. He was recently recognized as a 2025 West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow and as a 2025 Champion of Children by Just for Kids, Inc.
Current members of the West Virginia Supreme Court welcomed him.
“Judge Ewing is a respected member of the judicial branch who has sat by temporary assignment on our Court multiple times, and we congratulate him on this appointment to become the newest justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia,” said Chief Justice Bill Wooton.
The other finalists recommended to the governor by the Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission included:
- Dan Greear, judge on the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals and former chief counsel for the West Virginia House of Delegates
- Todd Kirby, circuit judge in Raleigh County and former state delegate
- Shawn Morgan, managing member at Steptoe & Johnson’s Bridgeport office and a former assistant United States attorney
That list had been narrowed from an original 15 candidates.
“I want to note that we really did have some distinguished people apply, and I really enjoyed meeting all of them,” Morrisey said.
The Supreme Court position was previously held by Justice Beth Walker, who retired June 27.
Walker assumed office on Jan. 1, 2017. Her current term was set to end on Dec. 31, 2028.
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.
In her retirement letter earlier this year, Walker wrote “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.”