
Judge Anita Harold Ashley was elected in May 2016 to a new seat in the Fifth Judicial Circuit (Calhoun, Jackson, Mason and Roane Counties) and was re-elected in 2024.
A Glenville native, she has a 1978 bachelor’s degree in English, summa cum laude, from Glenville State College and a 1981 law degree from West Virginia University College of Law.
At the time of her election in 2016, Judge Ashley had practiced law for 35 years. She served as a family law master from 1986 to 1999 and was a Jackson County assistant prosecutor in 2022. During her tenure as family law master, she served on the Judicial Investigation Commission and was on several select committees of the Supreme Court. She also received several state and national awards as a practicing attorney.
As a circuit judge, Judge Ashley was selected by her peers to hold several offices in the West Virginia Judicial Association, including president in 2023. In 2023, she was named a West Virginia Bar Foundation fellow, and she was named the 2022 West Virginia Judge of the Year by Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for her work with abused and neglected children.
Judge Ashley is active in the community. She is a member of the Spencer Rotary Club, where she served as the first female president, the Roane County College Scholarship Foundation, Inc., the Roane County Chamber of Commerce, and St. John’s United Methodist Church. She has also been an active volunteer with scouting organizations.
Judge Ashley and her late husband, former legislator Bob Ashley, have two adult sons, Ben and Sam.