Judge Howard was elected in May 2016 to a seat in the Sixth Judicial Circuit (Cabell County). He took office on January 1, 2017.

He has a 1995 bachelors of business administration degree from Marshall University and a 1998 law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law.

Judge Howard was the first law clerk to the four circuit judges in Cabell County. After one year as a clerk, he became an Assistant Cabell County Prosecutor. As an assistant prosecutor, he helped establish the Cabell County Juvenile Drug Court in 1999.

From 2004 until he took the bench, he was a partner at the law firm of Bailey & Howard, handling civil and criminal matters. He also served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2006 and was chief counsel to West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland.