The West Virginia House Judiciary Committee voted on Tuesday to impeach all four members of its state Supreme Court.
The panel approved 14 articles of impeachment against the sitting justices, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, moving forward the possibility of impeachment for the entirety of the Supreme Court in that state.
“It’s a sad day, and it certainly isn’t a cause for celebration,” Judiciary Chairman John Shott, a Republican, said Tuesday as the articles were distributed to the committee members in the West Virginia House.
The charges against Chief Justice Margaret Workman and Justices Robin Davis, Allen Loughry and Beth Walker, include “unnecessary and lavish spending” of taxpayer dollars to renovate their offices, maladministration, and corruption. All four justices are also charged with neglecting their duties to develop and maintain court policies regarding the use of state resources, like cars, computers, and funds.
Loughry faces additional charges that say he used state-issued vehicle for personal travel, moved and used government furniture and computers to his residence, and framed personal artwork on government money.
Loughry is the subject of eight of the 14 articles of impeachment. Both Workman and Davis are the subject of four each and Walker is the subject of two.
If the justices leave office before they have two years left in their term, the governor will appoint interim justices in their stead, and a special election to replace them would take place May 2020.
Currently, all of the four justices have more than two years left in their terms.