As most people in the state are aware, there is an ongoing legal battle over where WV Gov. Jim Justice resides. Further, it is no secret that Gov. Justice prefers Lewisburg to Charleston as his place of residence despite being afforded the governor’s executive mansion and staff in Charleston.
I grew up in Greenbrier County and have spent nearly thirty years of my life in Greenbrier County. For the remainder of my life I lived in Morgantown while attending college and law school and 17 years in Charleston while working as a prosecutor.
Former Del. Isaac Sponaugle took offense to Gov. Justice allegedly not spending enough time in Charleston and living directly in the executive mansion.
Thus, he filed a lawsuit against the governor citing West Virginia Constitutional requirements that executive officers “reside at the seat of government.”
Of note, Sponaugle recently ran for Attorney General and lost in the primary. The West Virginia Supreme Court recently reviewed the matter and even looked at old constitutional debates beginning in 1862. The court noted that framers of the constitution wanted the governor to reside at the seat of government “so we may at least find him.”
In the case of State ex rel. Justice v. King (2020), the West Virginia Supreme Court generally held that “reside” means to live primarily at a location and if leaving that location, the person must have an “intent to return.”
The court found that it should be a “home base” and that it was not a discretionary matter, even for a governor. The court essentially remanded the case back to Kanawha County Circuit Court for further consideration by denying the governor’s writ to stop the lower court from enforcing the constitutional residence requirement.
Former Kanawha County Circuit Judge Charles King was a hard-hitting straight shooter. He recently passed away. He had a quick wit and good common sense. If you were in his court it was best to be prepared or suffer the consequences of public ridicule. He originally had this case and I remember him saying in court words to the effect: “What am I supposed to do, have someone follow the governor around to make sure he is living here?”
The thought of that scenario was fairly ridiculous.
Practically speaking, back in 1862 and later ratifications of the state constitution, people primarily commuted by horse, horse and buggy, train or boat. People communicated long distance with the telegraph in the mid-1800s and later via the telephone, which was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. It was probably fairly difficult to reach people during that time period if they were not in town.
Today with computerized cell phones, people can be reached with an instantaneous text, call, FaceTime, or other video chatting method. Frankly, instant accessibility can be a bit overwhelming at times. The COVID-19 pandemic has also proved that remote working via teleconferencing platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams actually can work and it is expected that many businesses will not return to true in-office work. During this pandemic, virtual court has also become the norm.
The original framers of the constitution wanted to make certain the governor was attending to the state’s business and not merely holding the title of governor. Since Gov. Justice’s first inauguration, it has been clear that he has been attending to the state’s business and can certainly “be found” at any time. Since this horrible pandemic began, Gov. Justice has been laser-focused on helping the state get through it. Driving the Kanawha Turnpike is not a fun experience and is actually quite dangerous at times. Gov. Justice has driven the Turnpike and has been at the seat of government guiding us through this pandemic on a nearly daily basis. Watch his daily press conferences and look at the national news. West Virginia is leading the nation in vaccine roll out and delivery methods, which is undoubtedly saving many lives here.
In order to comply with the ruling in State ex rel. Justice v. King, Gov. Justice would likely need to “reside” in Charleston, live primarily at the seat of government, and establish Charleston as his home base. He could leave Charleston to come to Lewisburg but must have the intent to return to Charleston. It seems that the intent to return to Charleston is already occurring. Enforcement of a circuit order directing the governor to reside in Charleston would be difficult and impractical.
As Judge King said, how could it be enforced? Further, what are the consequences for non-compliance, a contempt of court ruling? Fines? It will be interesting to see who Gov. Justice appoints to Judge King’s seat and how that new judge rules on this issue.
There are many wonderful, genuine and caring people in Charleston. Charleston has a multitude of positive aspects. There are some parts I miss about it, especially many friends.
However, it also has high crime, a very high homeless population (homeless people actually bus in from all across the country for free services), a steeply declining population base and an eroding business structure. It is called “Chemical Valley” for a reason. In picking a place to make his home base, I certainly do not blame the governor for choosing the clean air of Greenbrier Valley. Since I have returned to this area, I no longer get multiple sinus infections each year.
