Gov. Jim Justice announced the first-ever appointees to West Virginia’s new Intermediate Court of Appeals.
The Governor’s picks included Thomas E. Scarr, Daniel W. Geear and Donald A. Nickerson Jr.
“A historic day in West Virginia without in question,” Justice said of his appointments to the court. “Histori9c doesn’t mean anything if you don’t get it right. I’m really confident we got it right.”
All together the new court will be represented by an Ohio County Commissioner, chief counsel to the House of Delegates and the president of the state bar.
Scarr, of Barboursville, was appointed to a term of two-and-a-half years and is the current president elect of the West Virginia Bar.
Justice said Scarr has extensive experience in labor and employment law as well as civil litigation.
Greear, of South Charleston, was appointed to the four-an-a-half year term on the court. He is a former circuit judge in Kanawha County and is the current chief counsel to the Speaker of the House of Delegates.
Nickerson, of Wheeling, is a commissioner from Ohio County and an attorney with Spilman, Thomas and Battle. He was appointed to the longest inaugural term of six-and-a-half years.
The new Intermediate Court of Appeals is expected to be up and running by July first.
The court will review workers compensation cases and family court orders. Moreover, the new court will review civil cases between the circuit court and Supreme Court.
The court was established with the signing into law of the West Virginia Appellate Reorganization Act last spring.
Each seat on the court will be elected to ten-year term in office once the initial terms expire. The judges will be compensated with a yearly salary of $142,000.
Speaker of the House of Delegates Roger Hanshaw issued a statement following the Governor’s announcement.
“I’m pleased by the announcement of three outstanding men to help open West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals,” Hanshaw said. “Seeing this effort come to fruition after years and years of discussion and debate has been extremely gratifying. I believe this truly is one of the policy initiatives that will further our state as a place where people and businesses want to locate.