Judge Thomas K. Fast was elected to the bench in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Fayette County) in 2024 and his term started January 1, 2025.

Judge Fast was born in Fairmont and raised on a farm in Marion County. He is a graduate of North Marion High School (1984). He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fairmont State College (now University) in 1989 and a law degree from Regent University School of Law in 1993. While at Fairmont State, he served on student government as the Board of Regents representative, making him a member of the governing council for higher education in West Virginia. He also participated in an internship at the West Virginia Legislature, where he was assigned to the House of Delegates. 

After law school, he worked at Conrad and Clay/Conrad Law Offices (1993-1996). In 1996, he opened his solo law practice in Fayetteville, where he continued to work in the general practice of law until he took the bench. During his 31 years practicing law, he handled a wide variety of cases in multiple courts in West Virginia. He also served for a time as Level II Hearing Examiner for the Board of Education.

He was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2014 and was re-elected four times. He was Chair of the Industry and Labor Committee, as well as Vice-Chair and Chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

Judge Fast and his wife, Lisa, have one child and two grandchildren. He and his wife served more than 10 years as state Youth Directors for the West Virginia Free Methodist Church. He led a chapter of the Christian Coalition in the 1990s and is a member of Faith Community Church. He has also coached Upward Bound Basketball and is a past President of the Fayette County Bar Association.