Judge James H. Young, Jr., was appointed to a new circuit court seat in Wayne County, and he took office January 1, 2009. He was elected to that position in 2010 and re-elected in 2016 and 2024.

Judge Young is a native of Wayne County. He graduated from Ceredo-Kenova High School in 1971, Marshall University in 1974, and West Virginia University College of Law in 1979.

He was a member of and partner in law firms in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Huntington, West Virginia. He served as the elected Wayne County Prosecutor from 1997 to 2008.

Judge Young served as one of seven judges in the Business Court Division from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2021, and is a member of the West Virginia Judicial Association. He has been temporarily assigned several times to sit on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in cases in which a justice was recused.

He is married to the former Shonda Donahue and has two daughters.