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JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION COMMISSION
ADVISORY OPINIONS

In 2021, the Judicial Investigation Commission decided to update the JIC Advisory Opinion Website. All relevant opinions were redacted to remove the identifying information of the requestor and uploaded in their entirety to the website. Importantly, they are now searchable by assigned number, topic and/or Code provision. Obsolete opinions were identified and retired.

Numbers were given to each advisory opinion. The number to the left of the hyphen (-) represents the year in which the advisory opinion was written. The number to the right of the hyphen (-) is the actual opinion number. New topics were created, and each advisory opinion was ascribed one or more for ease of reference. Lengthy summaries were reduced to questions(s) presented and applicable Code Rules have been listed to the right of them. Not every advisory opinion contains a Rule.

Beginning with JIC AO 2015-23 through the current advisory opinion, the Rules cited pertain to the West Virginia Code of Judicial Conduct in effect from December 1, 2015 to the present time. Beginning with JIC Advisory Opinion 1993-02 through JIC Advisory Opinion 2015-19, the Rules cited pertain to the Code in effect from January 1, 1993 through November 30, 2015. Beginning with JIC Advisory Opinion 1985-01 through JIC Advisory Opinion 1992-23, the Rules cited pertain to the Code in effect from January 1, 1973 through December 31, 1992.

Retired Advisory Opinions from 6/6/2023

Retired Advisory Opinions from 12/10/2021

Old to new code conversion

Advisory Opinion Topic Words

 

Complaint Number Topic Question/Code Reference
2025-06 Disclosure, disqualification, law clerk

Is a judge disqualified from presiding over cases if he approaches a public defender about working as his/her law clerk [2.11]
2025-05 Charity, name, fundraiser

Can a judge’s name appear on a charity’s promotions as long as no title is used and it does not involve a fundraiser [1.2, 1.3, 3.1(C)]
2025-04 Disclosure, disqualification, spouse, school, teacher

Is a judge disqualified from presiding over cases involving the school where his/her spouse is employed as a teacher? [2.11]
2025-03 Dislosure, disqualification, family member

Can the chief FCJ in a multi-judge circuit enter an order assigning all of an FCJ’s cases to another judge where the FCJ’s spouse is law partners with an attorney who practices family law before that court? [2.11]
2025-02 Disclosure, disqualification, law clerk, grand jury

Is a judge disqualified from presiding over certain criminal cases where a new law clerk previously served as the foreman of the grand jury issuing the indictments? [2.11, 2.12(A)]
2025-01 Disclosure, disqualification, family member

Can a judge preside over cases where the judge’s adult child is mayor of a municipality and the municipality is a named party to a suit? [2.11]
2024-26 Education, public, nonpublic pending/impending, official duties

Can a judge educate other judges on a new opinion before the mandate issues or appeal period has run and can he/she use the new case in an opinion or order [2.9, 2.10]
2024-25 pending/impending, comment, case synopses

When is a case considered no longer pending before a court? [2.10(A)]
2024-24 disclosure, disqualification, law clerk

Must a judge disqualify himself when his soon-to-be former law clerk goes to work for a firm that has pending cases before the Court? [2.11]
2024-23 disclosure, disqualification, prosecutor, abuse and neglect, juvenile, truancy

When can a former elected prosecutor preside as judge over abuse and neglect, juvenile and/or truancy cases? [2.11]