WINFIELD, W.Va. — Putnam County Circuit Judge Mark Sorsaia is resigning effective at the end of the month after being diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Sorsaia announced his decision in a Facebook post Friday afternoon.
“Yesterday I signed a letter addressed to the Governors office and to the West Virginia Supreme Court announcing my resignation as Circuit Judge affective July 31st,” Sorsaia wrote.
Sorsaia said it’s been a great honor serving as Putnam County prosecutor for 28 years, time as state Homeland Security secretary for then-Gov. Jim Justice and then as circuit judge after being appointed by Justice.
Sorsaia was elected to a full-term as circuit judge in May.
“So some may wonder why I would have filed for election this year, and then resign my post on the last day of July. The answer is I have recently been diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s disease, which for obvious reasons would affect my ability to serve as your circuit judge,” Friday’s post said.
Sorsaia said one of the reasons for the public post was to encourage those with memory problems to get checked out.
“I have experienced what I considered annoying memory problems for some time. Not necessarily significant problems till recently. My last gesture of public service is to educate our community through this post that if you are over fifty years old ( even though younger people can be affected) and you have concerns about the quality of your memory you need to see a doctor,” Sorsaia wrote. “I told my friends oh I can’t remember where I put my keys, or my phone… they reply well I do that all the time. That is true because aging does affect memory I guess unrelated to Alzheimer’s. But my symptoms got to be more of announce and frustrating situation. I had a medical visit with a very good local numerologist , and the alarms started to sound. So the Bottom Line is if you’re concerned about memory problems get checked.”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey will appoint Sorsaia’s replacement.
Justice praised Sorsaia back in October 2024 when he appointed him as circuit judge following the resignation of Judge Joseph Reeder.
“It’s been a great big honor to work with you. You’ve done great work and everything. And now go on and just make us even more proud as one of our judges,” Justice said in October 2024. “I don’t think anybody can dispute the credentials that you have to take this position.”
Sorsaia’s full post:
“Yesterday I signed a letter addressed to the Governors office and to the West Virginia Supreme Court announcing my resignation as Circuit Judge affective July 31st. In my past I have had the great honor of serving as Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney for approximately 28 years and West Virginia Cabinet Secretary of Homeland Security, and now Circuit Judge. Due to the fact that Governor Justice appointed me to my Judicial position it was necessary for me to file on the last election ballot to have Putnam County voters the opportunity to choose who they wanted to serve as their circuit judge. I was then officially elected to my judicial position in the last May primary election. So some may wonder why I would have filed for election this year, and then resign my post on the last day of July. The answer is I have recently been diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s disease, which for obvious reasons would affect my ability to serve as your circuit judge. I want to thank the voters of Putnam County for the opportunity to be your Prosecuting Attorney for so many years. I want to thank Senator Jim Justice for allowing me to be his Cabinet Secretary of Homeland Security and for my gubernatorial appointment as Circuit Judge, and most importantly I want to thank my dear friends in our law enforcement community for their support and and their friendship over the years. Looking back on my career I am so thankful for my opportunity to serve my community and our great state. The reason for this post is two fold. Number one why I am resigning as one of your circuit judges. Number two and most important to me is to discuss my experience with Alzheimer’s disease. I have experienced what I considered annoying memory problems for some time. Not necessarily significant problems till recently. My last gesture of public service is to educate our community through this post that if you are over fifty years old ( even though younger people can be affected) and you have concerns about the quality of your memory you need to see a doctor. I told my friends oh I can’t remember where I put my keys, or my phone… they reply well I do that all the time. That is true because aging does affect memory I guess unrelated to Alzheimer’s. But my symptoms got to be more of announce and frustrating situation. I had a medical visit with a very good local numerologist , and the alarms started to sound. So the Bottom Line is if you’re concerned about memory problems get checked. Alzheimer’s apparently used to be difficult to diagnose at early stages, where an individual has minor memory issues. Not anymore there is a recently new blood test, that will show some sort of marker in your blood that is a red flag that you have active Alzheimer’s , but most importantly that you will develop symptoms in the future. I may have had this disease for years. It can take 8 to 10 years to develop to a point you have symptoms. I will soon start an intervenes therapy that will last 18 or so months that has found to be very affective in slowing down the progression of the disease. It may not help and cognitive problems I have like memory problems, but It can give me potentially years of quality of life because it slows the advancement of the disease. I am handling this situation better than I would have expected. Historically this disease would take years to slowly take me down but know I like many others have hope. The medical profession has made tremendous strides in treatment options, and my bet is I believe a cure is in our near future. One last thought is, I’m going to the Rockefeller Alzheimer’s treatment center in Morgantown. I did my homework and discovered it is one of the best Alzheimer’s treatment, research facilities in the world. Senator Jay Rockefeller took it upon himself to build and fund this facility after his mother died from Alzheimer’s. As a young man on several occasions I got to spend time with Governor Jay Rockefeller. In my opinion the Rockefeller Alzheimer’s Center in Morgantown is his greatest legacy he has given our state, and my family and I will always be grateful.( with a few tears in my eyes) Disclaimer: I discussed Alzheimer’s disease in this text, in context of my perceived experience. I’m not a doctor, expert, and my advice is from the perspective of a patient. But bottom line if you over fifty it needs to on your medical list to monitor for possible development.”