A Nicholas County magistrate and longtime Summersville resident has been censured for misrepresenting her residence when she applied to fill an opening in Kanawha County, with Supreme Court justices concluding “her misconduct was undertaken to secure appointment to a position of public trust in the judiciary.”
Elizabeth Boso is being formally reprimanded, is suspended for two months without pay and is ordered to pay $618 in costs.
That follows an investigation by the Judicial Investigation Commission and an examination by the Judicial Hearing Board. The Supreme Court, in a 29-page opinion by Justice Haley Bunn, did roll back several allegations by concluding that Boso was not a judicial officer at the time of her actions.
But the court did conclude that she had violated a rule applying both to judges or judicial candidates to not make false or misleading statements. And the court maintained the penalty that was originally recommended.
“There can be little doubt that the public’s perception of the administration of justice is affected by respondent’s misconduct,” Bunn wrote for the court.
“That said, we agree that respondent was cooperative in the underlying proceedings and has demonstrated genuine and appropriate remorse. We recognize respondent’s many years of service to our magistrate court system and the apparent absence of any allegations of prior misconduct.”
Boso is currently a magistrate in Nicholas County after winning election in 2024. Prior to her election, she was a longtime magistrate assistant in both the Nicholas and Kanawha County magistrate court systems.
Months before her Nicholas election, she pursued appointment to an open position in Kanawha County.
The accusation is that she was not forthcoming about her residence for the Kanawha position that, in the end, she wound up not getting.
On Jan. 23, 2024, Boso filed an application for appointment after the resignation of Kanawha Magistrate Mike Ferrell.
She had been exploring possible rental options in Kanawha County because she was thinking of running for election to a seat there. The Legislature created three additional magistrate seats in Kanawha County in 2023.
On her application form, Boso wrote that her home address was that of a room in the home of Ferrell’s magistrate assistant. Later, the investigation showed that Boso really had discussions about renting the room but had never actually set foot on the property.
Under the application’s blank for “home county” Boso wrote “Working in Nicholas.”
She wound up not being appointed in Kanawha. Instead, Earl Whittington was appointed to the magistrate post.
That same day, Boso filed candidacy papers in Nicholas County for the magistrate position that she went on to win. The candidacy papers listed her legal residence as her longtime address in Summersville.
Bottom line, according to the final Supreme Court review: “In her application and resume, respondent attempted to create the impression that she was residing in Dunbar, Kanawha County, despite never having even visited the listed address.”
But the Supreme Court did note that all of this occurred while she was not actually serving on the bench. And the final decision observed that Boso had cooperated and acknowledged her earlier untruthfulness.
In the end, the Supreme Court concluded, “We find that respondent’s admitted misrepresentation to garner a vacancy appointment is serious misconduct warranting suspension and formal condemnation.”