Judge Ryan J. Flanigan was sworn in on August 16, 2024, to the bench in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Mercer County). 

Gov. Jim Justice appointed him to fill the remainder of a term that ended on Dec. 31, 2024. Judge Flanigan was elected in May 2024 to an eight-year term.  

Judge Flanigan was born and raised in Mercer County and graduated from Princeton Senior High School. He has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in political science from Marshall University, where he was a member of Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society and worked as a graduate assistant. 

Judge Flanigan graduated in 2002 from West Virginia University College of Law, where he served as an associate editor of the West Virginia Law Review and received the CALI Award in post-conviction remedies taught by former Supreme Court Justice Franklin Cleckley. 

After graduation, Judge Flanigan worked for the law firms of Robinson & McElwee and Bailey & Wyant, both located in Charleston. He focused on civil litigation. In 2009, he moved back to Mercer County and worked at the law firm of Sanders, Austin, Flanigan & Flanigan, focusing   on civil and criminal litigation. In 2015, Judge Flanigan joined The Flanigan Law Office, practicing civil and criminal litigation. He has litigated cases in state and federal courts in West Virginia and has also argued several cases before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. 

Judge Flanigan is active in his community and is involved in a number of organizations that focus on helping Mercer County and southern West Virginia.