(Greenleaf123 | Getty Images)
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals released an order this week upholding a lower court’s decision to remove two Jefferson County commissioners from office due to their refusal to attend meetings or perform their obligatory duties as elected officials.
The order came after former Jefferson County Commissioners Jennifer Krouse and Tricia Jackson filed an appeal on July 31 asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider a May 1 decision from a three-judge panel that immediately removed them from their elected positions.
According to the filing, a more detailed opinion outlining the basis for the ruling will be released “in due course.” Wednesday’s order was filed on an expedited basis due to the immediacy of the matter at hand.
The May ruling at the center of the appeal came from Judges Joseph K. Reeder, of the 29th Judicial Circuit; Jason A. Wharton, of the 4th Judicial Circuit and Perri Jo DeChristopher, of the 17th Judicial Circuit.
They ruled that Krouse and Jackson were derelict in the duties they took an oath to perform when they took office.
Krouse and Jackson were arrested in March on 42 misdemeanor charges each, including charges related to conspiracy for their coordination to keep the commission from meeting quorum, failure to perform their official duties and failure to fill the vacant county commission seat, among other charges.
The women intentionally missed every Jefferson County Commission meeting between Sept. 19 and Nov. 16 for what they called a “protest” against the procedure for filling a vacant commission seat. Over this time, they continued collecting their paychecks for serving on the commission. Each earned about $8,800 in taxpayer funds.
Without their attendance at the meetings and with the empty seat, a quorum couldn’t be met, leaving crucial county business — approving payment of bills, filling county employee vacancies and renewing contracts — unfinished.
While missing meetings, the women took to social media, making multiple posts explaining how their absences were orchestrated as a purposeful tactic to keep the commission from filling its vacant seat with a candidate who was not a “true conservative.”
Several of those social media postings were used as evidence in the removal order, with judges saying they show that the two lawmakers were conspiring. The missed meetings, the judges wrote, were more than just “casual disregard” for their office and duties. Instead, they were a “knowing refusal” to comply and a “weaponization” of their ability to deny quorum and hold up county business.
Eventually, on Nov. 30, Jackson and Krouse returned to the county commission after a judge ordered their attendance. At that meeting — and “ironically,” as the order reads — the commission vacancy was filled.
“This refusal to meet until ordered to do so removes all doubt that [Jackson and Krouse’s] actions are a willful and deliberate disregard of law,” according to the removal order. “… The Court therefore finds [Krouse and Jackson] … prioritized their own agendas over the needs of the citizens of Jefferson County and weaponized their deliberate and intentional refusal to attend meetings and appoint a fifth commissioner in order for [them] to advance their own agenda.”
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Local News
