PHILIPPI — A Barbour County magistrate has been admonished by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals after reportedly shoving a Sheriff’s Office deputy, swearing at him and calling him “boy” during an incident in 2024.

On June 23, the state Supreme Court of Appeals’ Judicial Investigation Commission released a report announcing that, on June 6, they had unanimously, in a seven to zero vote, found probable cause that Barbour County Magistrate Court Judge Daniel Harris violated rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

The report comes after the JIC received a complaint of allegations against Harris for actions taken on Sept. 7, 2024.

“After a review of the complaint, (Harris)’s written reply, his sworn statement, other evidence gathered including but not limited to courthouse surveillance video and the pertinent Rules contained in the Code of Judicial Conduct, the JIC found probable cause on June 6, 2025, that (Harris) violated… the Code of Judicial Conduct,” the JIC report reads.

The JIC found that, while “formal discipline” was not necessary, as Harris had a reputation for “being a good magistrate” with no prior judicial discipline, Harris should be publicly admonished. Admonishment, according to the JIC, “constitutes advice or caution to a judge to refrain from engaging in similar conduct.” Harris has been a Barbour County magistrate since 2017 and previously served as a law enforcement officer with various agencies for about 18 years.

According to the JIC’s statement of facts for the inciting incident, around 4 p.m. on Sept. 7, 2024, Harris was contacted by a Barbour County Sheriff’s Office corporal who advised that he had left an arrest warrant at the courthouse, and that Deputy Alex Williams had arrested a defendant on an out-of-county warrant the previous night who needed to be arraigned.

When Harris arrived at the court around 9:30 p.m. to review the warrant and arraign Williams’ defendant, he could not find Williams’ paperwork, the report states. Harris then contacted the corporal and told him to have Williams bring the paperwork to his office.

Williams eventually dropped off his paperwork in the designated dropbox, but as he was leaving, Harris saw Williams from his second story office. After getting Williams’ attention, Harris him come up to his office. According to the report, “given that it was the weekend and later in the evening,” Harris and Williams were the only two people in the magistrate facility.

Harris explained to Williams that he needed the arrest paperwork “properly filled out and timely filed to avoid violating a defendant’s constitutional rights,” the report states. Harris also told Williams that his paperwork was “incorrect” and stressed the importance of submitting correct documents. 

During the exchange, the JIC writes that Harris “perceived Deputy Williams’ responses to his statements as cavalier,” while Williams “thought (Harris) was being condescending” and could tell Harris was “becoming angry.” Both Harris and Williams testified to the JIC that the conversation became “increasingly heated.”

The report states both men testified that, during the conversation, Williams told Harris, “You are not going to talk to me that way.” Williams told the JIC that Harris responded that he would talk to Williams “however he wanted,” before standing up and telling Williams to “get the f**k out of his office.” Harris reportedly admitted to the JIC that he said that, but only after Williams “refused to leave despite several requests.”

According to the report, Williams testified that Harris then said “Get the f**k out of my office, boy.” The JIC notes that Williams, who is an African American, took the term “boy” as a racial slur due to historical connotations regarding that word being used to denigrate black men.

When questioned by the JIC about the use of the word, Harris first said he did not remember calling Williams “boy,” but admitted it was possible that he said it.

“Do you not find that term racially offensive with an African American male?” the JIC interviewer asked.

“I guess he could have interpreted it that way,” Harris said. “That was not my intent.”

When the interviewer asked that question again and asked if Harris intended for the term to be racially offensive, Harris said he did not. The interviewer asked what the intent would have been then, and Harris responded it was probably because of Williams’ age and the attitude that he had.

“I don’t know if it means anything, but my assistant is African American,” Harris told the JIC interviewer. “I don’t — I am not a racist. I have family that are mixed race that that’s — that would not have been my intent whatsoever. It would’ve been his age and his attitude and disrespect.”

When asked if he was aware that most African Americans think the use of the term “boy” toward an African American adult male was racially insensitive, Harris admitted that he was aware of this fact, but didn’t “really think about it.”

“I can see where he could feel that,” Harris told the interviewer. “I’m — not my intent though. Like I said, I was more along the lines of a young fella and a lot of — there’s several in that specific department that are about 20s and 30s and I would’ve — you know, it was not intentional in that aspect whatsoever.”

The JIC report states that, as Williams began to leave Harris’ office, he would take a few steps towards the door, stop and then continue the argument. Williams wrote in his report that, when he got to the door, Harris “grabbed (him) by (his) outer carrier forcing (him) through the closed door.”

Williams, during his sworn statement to the JIC, testified that “it started out like him pushing me like from the front, and then I kind of, kind of turned, and then he was just behind me, just following me out the entire time, just pushing me all the way out.”

Harris, the JIC writes, maintained that when Williams made it to the door, he stopped again and turned toward Harris, continuing the argument. Harris then said he ordered Williams to leave. 

Harris, in his self-report, wrote, “I opened the door myself and extended my arms and moved Williams out into the stairwell past the threshold of the door, all while telling him to go. I closed the door. I didn’t know how else to deescalate the situation but to remove him myself.”

During his sworn statement, Harris allegedly admitted to the JIC that he did shove Williams out the door and into the hallway. The JIC report states there is also video evidence of Harris shoving Williams.

In the decision, the JIC stated that Harris had “no business” shoving Williams out the door. According to the JIC, it is “never appropriate” for a judicial officer to place their hands on anyone unless it is in self-defense, “which is not what happened here.”

“(Harris) couched the terms of the push very carefully in his written response so as to not indicate that it was shove,” the JIC report states. “(Harris) also should not have sworn at the deputy. Two wrongs don’t make a right. A judge is supposed to rise above the fray. When he doesn’t, the judge casts a pall on the integrity of the judicial system as a whole.”

The JIC report states that officials could not say if the use of “boy” was racist in this case, as “what seems an ordinary use of a word to one may be offensive to another,” though they did say they expect Harris to “choose his words more wisely in the future.”

The Inter-Mountain contacted Harris’ office Wednesday, but a representative said he declined to comment.

The Barbour County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to The Inter-Mountain’s request for comment as of press time.