West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Beth Walker (right) asks a question of Steve Ruby, attorney for the drug companies, as fellow justice Haley Bunn (left) listens during the opioid hearing inside the courtroom Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
“While serving the people of West Virginia has been the greatest honor of my life, I now do my part to usher in a new generation of leadership while spending more time with my family, friends, and pursuing other interests,†Walker, 60, said in her retirement letter.
Background
According to previous Gazette-Mail reporting, Walker grew up in Huron, Ohio, on the banks of Lake Erie. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Hillsdale College, in Hillsdale, Michigan, and a law degree from Ohio State University, according to her court biography.
Walker practiced at the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä law firm Bowles Rice beginning in the early 1990s, and moved to Morgantown in 2011, when she became associate general counsel for WVU Medicine. She worked in that capacity until West Virginia voters elected her to the court in 2016 in the first nonpartisan Supreme Court race.
Reopening gas drilling case
In 2017, Walker voted to reopen a case and reverse a Supreme Court ruling that would have forced natural gas drillers to pay more to residents. According to previous Gazette-Mail reporting, Walker’s husband owned stock in a variety of energy companies around the time she voted to reopen the case.
Prior to oral arguments in the case, she wrote that he sold the shares of “any company engaged in the business of producing coal, oil and gas, wind or solar energy.†The court eventually sided with the gas producers.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of Walker’s participation in the case.
Impeachment
Walker was one of four Supreme Court justices who were impeached by the House of Delegates in 2018. Walker was censured but not removed from office after a trial in the Senate for the impeachment article of maladministration.
West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Beth Walker (right) asks a question of Steve Ruby, attorney for the drug companies, as fellow justice Haley Bunn (left) listens during the opioid hearing inside the courtroom Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
In a letter, Walker said the Supreme Court has “restored public trust in the judicial branch†and “established a cooperative and functioning relationship with both the legislative and executive branches†during her tenure.
Walker wrote that the Court had also instituted financial, human resources, technology and procurement policies and created a strategic plan.
“The creation of these policies was not only good for the administration of the justice system, it also was the right thing to do for the people of our state,†she wrote.
With Walker on the bench, the Supreme Court also opened the Judicial Learning Center to teach students and the public about the judicial branch.
Other justices react
In a statement, the four other Supreme Court justices praised Justice Walker.
“Regardless of who is Chief — and that role is currently mine — Beth Walker has been a leader on this Court,†said Chief Justice William R. “Bill†Wooton. “This is in part due to her institutional knowledge, being our longest-serving justice, but the real foundation of her leadership is her judicial temperament and intellect.â€
Wooton called Walker a “force insisting on collegiality and civility†among the justices.
Justice C. Haley Bunn said Walker was an “invaluable mentor and a true friend†who helped her settle into her duties when Bunn was appointed in 2022.
“In addition to her unwavering commitment to improving West Virginia’s court system through transparency and sound legal judgment, Justice Walker truly cares about all the people who serve in our branch and is a nationally recognized advocate for the implementation of legal health and wellness programs which help judges and lawyers manage the rigors of our high-stress, high-intensity jobs,†Bunn said.
Justice Charles Trump said Walker was “instrumental†in restoring trust in the Supreme Court with West Virginians.
“She has earned the admiration and respect of the people of West Virginia, including the bench, the bar, and all of our citizens. She has been West Virginia’s best-known ambassador to other judicial officials throughout America, and more than any other person, she has worked to develop respect for West Virginia’s judiciary throughout the nation,†Trump said.
Justice Walker submitted a notice of her intent to retire to Wooton and Morrisey over the weekend. The Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission will collect applications, conduct interviews and make recommendations to the governor, who will appoint a replacement.
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