CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) \u2014 When John A. Hutchison was coaching college basketball in the 1970s, teaching and coaching in Raleigh County in the same time period or working as a construction laborer, carpenter\u2019s helper and steelworker on a New River bridge, it\u2019s doubtful anyone would have pegged him for the job he has today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Yet here he is in his early 70s, framed by those experiences and many others, stepping in as chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court in what\u2019s arguably one of the most important times in its history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Supreme Court, not that far removed from a scandal that rocked its core \u2014 and which Hutchison had nothing to do with \u2014 now is charged with paving the way for the brand new Intermediate Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And at the same time, Hutchison and his colleagues on the state\u2019s highest court must make sure the judiciary continues to operate smoothly. That\u2019s no small feat, with the pandemic entering its third year and with the impacts of the opioid crisis that raged here coming home fully to roost in a plethora of abuse and neglect cases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chief Justice John Hutchison speaks with social studies students at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School about the West Virginia Court System. December 6, 2021.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n On the basketball court, in construction, as a lawyer and as a longtime Raleigh County circuit judge, Hutchison learned a long time ago that teamwork is critical to success.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So when he talks about initiatives that he\u2019s charged with leading, it isn\u2019t surprising that he frequently interjects \u201cwe\u201d instead of \u201cI.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe main priority is to continue the progress that we\u2019re making and have been making over the last several years. Obviously, trying to manage the implementation of the Intermediate Court of Appeals is a big project. But we\u2019re also trying to continue a bunch of stuff and to develop a bunch of stuff,\u201d Hutchison told WV News\/The State Journal<\/em> recently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chief Justice John A. Hutchison, center, wants to continue the progress the court has made.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor example, creating hybrid courtrooms where we can use the experience that we gained from COVID to use more technology,\u201d Hutchison said. \u201cWhat that does, it makes the courts more accessible to folks. We\u2019re trying to give people the option. If they want to go into the courtroom, that\u2019s fine, but a lot of times it\u2019s difficult for them. So we\u2019re trying to continue to expand our use of hybrid courtrooms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe other thing we\u2019re doing \u2014 and I want to continue \u2014 is to continue to work with and cooperate with the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation to get more remote equipment in the jails so that prisoners who need to appear for hearings, where it\u2019s appropriate, that we have an appropriate amount of equipment at each jail so that judges and lawyers and everybody can meet with and interact with those prisoners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou know, that does a lot for the Division of Corrections. They don\u2019t have to transport people as much. It\u2019s safer because you don\u2019t have them out on the roads in vehicles. It\u2019s safer for the [Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation] employees because they\u2019re not having to be out on the roads with prisoners. So that helps a lot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAnd another thing that we\u2019re trying to get going \u2014 and I really want to continue to do this, and a lot of this stuff is technology-centered \u2014 but the magistrate payment portal, which is a method whereby people could use their credit cards to pay magistrate fines, fees, restitution that sort of stuff. And it makes it a lot easier for the magistrate clerks and the magistrates themselves to be able to manage and account for all the money that comes in. So, that\u2019s a big thing that we\u2019re still working on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe have a lot of programs that we\u2019re trying to move out. We\u2019re trying to expand our family treatment courts, make sure that the juvenile and adult drug courts and the veterans courts have enough resources to do what they need to do. We\u2019re continuing to push on those kinds of things. It\u2019s really to carry on the good work that was started before I got here and hopefully bring a lot of it some conclusion, especially the Intermediate Court of Appeals, getting that set up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Legislature passed a bill creating the Intermediate Court of Appeals last year, and Gov. Jim Justice signed the measure into law April 9.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The law establishes a three-judge panel; the judges eventually will serve staggered terms lasting 10 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chief Justice John A. Hutchison speaks with social studies students at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School about the West Virginia Court System on Dec. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The first group of judges appointed by Justice are attorneys: Thomas Scarr of Huntington (term ending Dec. 31, 2024); Daniel Greear of Charleston (term ending Dec. 31, 2026); and Donald Nickerson Jr. of Wheeling (term ending Dec. 31, 2028).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Intermediate Court of Appeals will hear: Appeals from circuit courts in civil cases and those concerning guardianship or conservatorship; appeals from family courts, except for appeals from domestic violence proceedings, which will still go through circuit court; appeals from state agencies or administrative law judges; and appeals from decisions or orders issued by the Workers\u2019 Compensation Office of Judges after June 30, until its termination, and from orders or decisions of the Workers\u2019 Compensation Board of Review after June 30.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe are currently identifying space for them,\u201d Hutchison said. \u201cWe have a technology committee that\u2019s working on making sure they have all the most up-to-date technology. We have the Human Resources Committee working, deciding how many employees and how do we need to bring them on. We\u2019re not going to need everybody July 1, and we\u2019re going to need some people before July 1. So trying to come up with a plan to bring those folks in and starting to work when they\u2019re needed and when they can do the most good.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re also working on identifying remote locations. I talked a little bit about hybrid courtrooms. One of the problems that the Intermediate Court\u2019s going to have is a huge number of the cases that they\u2019re going to be hearing appeals on will deal with self-represented litigants, no lawyers,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Students from Raleigh and Wyoming counties participating in the 8th Grade Youth in Government program visit with Chief Justice John Hutchison and Justice Tim Armstead in the Supreme Court courtroom at the West Virginia Capitol in Charleston, WV, Jan. 31.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd we got to thinking it would be really tough for a 15- to 20-minute hearing to have some individual have to drive from Berkeley County to Charleston or something like that. So we are trying to identify and trying to work on agreements where we could have courtrooms set up where the parties would go in and appear remotely in front of the judges who would all be together,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAnd the idea was, what kind of road system would be there, what kind of parking might be available and the locations are designed so that nobody would have to drive any more than an hour and a half to get there. So we\u2019re working on that and making a whole lot of progress. We\u2019re working on electronic filing for the Intermediate Court of Appeals and moving forward with those contracts and identifying the vendors for those so that everything filed in the Intermediate Court of Appeals would be done electronically. And that way it saves a lot of paper, it saves a lot of storage space and it makes it more convenient for folks that may want to work remotely,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAnd so we\u2019re moving along on that. … Somewhere in the middle of March, get the Advisory Council that [former chief justice Evan] Jenkins organized, we\u2019re going to get those guys in. We\u2019ve had our clerks looking at and making suggested changes to all the rules that we have, court rules that would apply to the Intermediate Court of Appeals. And those are going out for public comment \u2026 So lots of, lots of behind-the-scenes kind of work. You know, where are they going to have offices? Where\u2019s the courtroom going to be? We\u2019re working on the remote courtrooms, working on rules. And the big thing is, you know it\u2019s hard to get computer equipment right now because of the delays. So we\u2019re trying to identify what we\u2019re going to need so we can get it ordered, so it can be here when we need it. So lots of stuff like that going on,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Status quo on COVID policy<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hutchison predicts mostly the status quo on the judiciary\u2019s COVID policy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably going to stay pretty much the same unless there is some identifiable issue that needs to be dealt with. What we did was we initially had policies that were fairly stringent and fairly centralized in the court. And then as COVID started to ease what we\u2019ve done is we\u2019ve sent that decision-making out to the local judges, and in the circuits and in the counties where they work. Because you know as well as I do, Kanawha County is going to need something different than Ohio County, for example, or Berkeley County,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSo those judges under our current policies have a lot of leeway in terms of how they\u2019re going to handle COVID emergencies, I guess is what I would call it. But the one thing that we are pushing is use of technology and remote hearings. A lot of judges, especially in abuse and neglect cases, are using remote technology. And one example is, a guardian ad litem who might be working in two or three different counties, if he can appear remotely, he can save traveling to two or three different counties and do his remote hearings from a central location, which makes it a lot easier on those guys,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe are encouraging use of technology in all hearings where it\u2019s appropriate. Now some hearings, criminal hearings, for example, it may not be appropriate, constitutionally or legally, to not have the person actually in person in the courtroom. But there are a lot of things that can be done in criminal cases where the defendant can appear remotely either from jail or from some other location where he may be on bond. But it\u2019s working out and we\u2019re pushing that kind of thing,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hutchison, a 1980 graduate of the WVU College of Law, was appointed as Raleigh County circuit judge in 1995 by then-governor Gaston Caperton. Hutchison was elected in 1996, 200, 2008 and 2016 before his appointment to the state Supreme Court in 2018 and election in 2020 to a term ending Dec. 31, 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So, Hutchison has seen a lot during his time on the bench.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe talk a lot about that among ourselves, the judges, people who have been judges and circuit court judges. There are two things that have substantially changed the practice of being a circuit judge or even a family court judge. Technology is one of them. Technology has made it easier for judges and lawyers to control their dockets and control what\u2019s going on,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSeveral years ago, it would have been unheard of for a lawyer to appear at a hearing via telephone or via computer. Now it\u2019s commonplace, and judges have had to step up, learn the technology and learn how it can work for them. The other thing that has changed over the years substantially is abuse and neglect. I have seen in my career a huge change in the way we deal with abuse issues,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI mean, since I\u2019ve been on the bench the court has developed and adopted special rules for handling abuse and neglect cases. The real problem with abuse and neglect cases relates to the number of required hearings that you have to have and the timelines because, you know, you can\u2019t just allow abuse and neglect cases to go on and on and on,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to get them through a process and get a final decision made. And so the social aspect of judging has changed substantially since I became a judge in 1995. And to their credit, all judges that I know have worked through that and understood their responsibilities in trying to deal with the social impacts of cases, especially abuse and neglect cases. Those two things probably are the biggest things that have changed since I\u2019ve been on the bench,\u201d Hutchison said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Justice Tim Armstead, left, and Chief Justice John Hutchison met with Amelia Smith Rinehart, right, dean of the West Virginia University College of Law, and Nicole McConlogue, Clinical Program Director at the WVU College of Law, at the Supreme Court of Appeals courtroom in Charleston last Aug. 5.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
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\n J. Alex Wilson \/ Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia<\/span>
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\n J. Alex Wilson \/ Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia<\/span>
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\n J. Alex Wilson \/ Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia<\/span>
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