CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice announced the state is currently receiving applications to fill the judicial vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Alan D. Moats in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court, serving Barbour and Taylor counties.

Moats will retire as of Dec. 31, ending a full-time judicial career that began in 1997. Moats said he will request senior status.

In February, Moats was appointed to sit temporarily on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Moats’ appointment filled the vacancy left by Justice Evan Jenkins’ resignation.

Moats has been a judge in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, which includes Barbour and Taylor counties, since Jan. 1, 1997, when then-Governor Gaston Caperton appointed him to the bench. He was elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2008 and 2016.

Moats is the Chair of the Mass Litigation Panel, Chair of the Judicial Investigation Commission, a past president of the West Virginia Judicial Association, an advisory member of the West Virginia Courthouse Facilities Improvement Authority, and a former state delegate to the National Conference of State Trial Judges.

He was born and raised in Grafton, has a 1974 bachelor’s degree in English from West Virginia University and a 1977 law degree from West Virginia University College of Law.

Moats was the assistant prosecutor in Taylor County from 1977 to 1984 and was then elected Taylor County Prosecutor from 1985 to 1996. He maintained a private law practice from 1977 to 1996.

Candidates must submit their completed applications and letters of recommendation or comment no later than 5 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2023.

Applications and letters of recommendation will not be considered if received after the deadline outlined above. Both must be submitted either via email to JVAC@wv.gov, or by mail to: 

Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission

c/o Office of the General Counsel to the Governor

Office of the Governor

State Capitol

1900 Kanawha Blvd E

Charleston, WV 25305

For more information about the application process, please call the Office of General Counsel at 304-558-2000.

Interviews will be held in Charleston on Jan. 18, 2023.