CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Supreme Court has dismissed a case against Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers stemming from her comments made on statewide radio in March 2025.
Akers issued an administrative order last year for then-Department of Human Services Secretary Alex Mayer to come before her and discuss how housing was determined in the state’s foster care system. This came after she learned that children were being housed in hotels and 4-H camps. A month before, a 12-year-old boy attempted suicide while staying at a hotel. She appeared on MetroNews “Talkline” last March to discuss her decision to appoint a monitor, Cindy Largent-Hill, to the DoHS.
At the time, she said the practice of housing children in hotels and 4-H camps should not continue.
“It is supposed to be temporary, it is born out of necessity and emergency, I think everyone agrees, even Secretary Mayer agrees that this is not ideal,” Akers said during her March 3, 2025 appearance on “Talkline.”
Akers also said that she didn’t want to put blame on anyone, because it wouldn’t have done anything to solve the issue.
“It really was not my intent to place blame on anybody, I don’t see how that would be helpful to fixing anything anyway,” Akers added in her “Talkline” appearance. “I can yell at people all day, if nothing good comes from that, then what’s the point.”
A complaint was opened by the judicial disciplinary counsel, balking at Akers’ appearance on “Talkline.” The Judicial Investigation Commission, or JIC, found probable cause that Akers had violated four judicial code of conduct rules. Those charges were brought forth against Akers in July 2025.
Akers began the 2025 interview by stating she would not speak on specifics, saying, “There are lots of rules that govern what I can say publicly. If you guys ask me questions that I’m not allowed to answer, I will tell you. That is because we have rules that apply to the judiciary.”
“What I can tell you is what I said in my orders and what I said in open court,” she continued.
Still, the JIC claimed that Akers violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.
The JIC, in the admonishment, stated that they were not “unmindful” that Akers was “trying to do something good for children who suffer as a result of abuse and/or neglect.”
“The fact remains that respondent cannot talk to the media about pending matters whether it be tied to the underlying case involving the 12-year-old or the one monitoring the DoHS,” the commission continued.
The Judicial Hearing Board convened in March to hear the JIC’s case and allowed Akers a chance to make one of her own. She challenged the admonishment.
More than a year later, Mayer is no longer the state’s human services secretary. He departed the role in March 2026 and was replaced by Carl Ayers.
After hearing the case, Judicial Hearing Board found that “insufficient evidence exists” to support the commission’s charges.
The state Supreme Court agreed with the board’s recommendation and on Wednesday, ordered the case to be dismissed.