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CHARLESTON — Voters will have a new office to vote for this year with the first seat on the new West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals on the ballot.

ICA Judge Thomas Scarr, one of three judges appointed by Gov. Jim Justice to the new court at the end of 2021, announced last year that he would not seek election to the seat, creating an opening in the May primary.

The Legislature created the ICA with Senate Bill 275 in April 2021 after years of attempts and after several recommendations over a 15-year period. The ICA is meant to help take the load off of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and allow the justices to focus on precedent-setting legal cases.

The ICA has its own chamber and offices in Charleston’s Kanawha City where Chief Judge Dan Greear and Judges Scarr and Charles Lorensen hear cases. The ICA also has five satellite courtrooms in Petersburg, Weston, Berkeley Springs, Beckley and New Martinsville, allowing attorneys to present oral arguments without the need to travel to Charleston.

The ICA hears noncriminal appeals of circuit court civil cases, family court cases, guardianships and conservatorships, administrative law judge decisions, final orders and decisions by the state Health Care Authority and decisions by the Office of Judges.

The intermediate court also replaces the Workers’ Compensation Office of Administrative Judges with a Workers’ Compensation Board of Review from where decisions can be appealed to the intermediate court. As of the end of the 2024 legislative session, appeals of Public Employee Grievance Board decisions and other administrative rulings can be heard by the ICA.

The state Supreme Court still has the ability to seek jurisdiction over civil cases appealed to the intermediate court. Parties in cases can also appeal directly to the Supreme Court, which could hear cases on its own discretion.

Judicial elections in West Virginia are nonpartisan, with the May primaries serving as the general election for judicial races. The ICA race includes three candidates: Mychal Schulz, an attorney with the Babst Calland law firm in Charleston with decades of appellate experience; Elgine McArdle, a Wheeling attorney and former chairwoman of the West Virginia Republican Party; and Ryan White, a Charleston-based attorney and lobbyist.

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Schulz’s entire legal career has been in West Virginia since graduating from the William and Mary School of Law in 1992. His expertise is in employment and labor law, energy and natural resources, and litigation, and he has argued cases across the state, before the Supreme Court, and in the federal appellate courts where he is arguing cases the week before the May 14 primary. Schulz said he has experience in all of the types of cases the ICA is allowed to hear.

“Over the past 32 years, I have litigated cases all over the state in both state and federal courts,” Schulz said. “It’s my experience that sets me apart, 32 years of actual courtroom litigation experience. I’m the only candidate who can truthfully say that my practice has included all of the four general areas that go before the Intermediate Court of Appeals.”

Schulz said the ICA needs to be applauded for quickly making the court an effective instrument during the more than two years of its existence. He sees the court continuing to play a large role in the state’s legal ecosystem and wants to ensure that decisions continue to be issued with expediency.

“I think the future is that this court is going to continue to gain traction in the awareness of people in West Virginia because it is fairly new,” Schulz said. “I’m a big believer in the old legal maxim that justice delayed is justice denied … I’m fearful that the length of time it takes to dispose of or deal with an appeal before the ICA could start to get longer and longer. And my pledge is that I want to keep that short turnaround time. I don’t want to delay getting finality on matters because it matters to the people involved in those cases.”

McArdle has been a West Virginia resident for 40 years, opening her own law firm in Wheeling in 2001 after working for local law firms. She also worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia as an assistant U.S. Attorney. She has argued cases before state supreme courts in West Virginia and Ohio, and federal appellate courts.

In recent years, McArdle became more known for her political advocacy. She served two stints as chairwoman of the Ohio County Republican Executive Committee, most recently from 2014 to 2022, when she stepped down after being elected as chairwoman of the state Republican Party. She resigned from that position in January to seek the open ICA seat.

McArdle said the one thing missing from the ICA was someone with extensive experience in family law matters, an area of law that McArdle has focused on in her practice. She sees the ICA handling more family court matters now that orders of custody can be appealed to the court.

“That is my wheelhouse and I thought that I would be a good contributor in that particular area,” McArdle said. “I think that expedient decisions in family court would definitely be a goal because when you are dealing with custody issues and divorces, people’s lives are held in abeyance for at least a year when you go through the appellate process.

“Those (cases) need to be decided quickly because they’re decided quickly in family court,” McArdle continued. “If you take a long time in appellate court, kids are operating under a temporary order and after a while, if it’s not in their best interest, how do you flip back to what it was before? So, there are ways I think that you can expedite that or make it more expeditious.”

White founded the White Law Offices with his father, Steve White, in 2012. White has been a registered lobbyist in Charleston, representing several companies, including CommuniCare, Elevator Work Preservation Fund, and Wheeling Island Hotel-Racetrack-Casino. White was an elected member of the Kanawha County Board of Education.

During his law career, White clerked for U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin and worked for the Jackson Kelly law firm. He served as general counsel for several committees in the state Senate, including the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Economic Development Committee. Speaking to The ÀÏ˾»úÖ±²¥ in March, said this legislative background will be critical in hearing cases.

“It gives me a good base…and then my work with the Legislature – which it’s important to know the legislation, the legislative process and know how to write legislation – will give me a good, balanced understanding of what you need to do as a judge and make decisions on the court,” White said.

All three candidates said they would be fair and impartial, rendering decisions based on the law and not personal feelings or opinions, while continuing the good work the ICA has done to date.

“I think I think people can trust that I will be fair, balanced and follow the rule of law,” White said. “I think that people have been able to see throughout West Virginia that I’m relatable to West Virginians. One hundred percent of my practice is in West Virginia and it’s not all in one place. It’s everywhere.”

“Obviously you have to rule based upon the facts and the law. There’s no question about that,” McArdle said.

“I am a big fan of the three judges … in getting the ICA up and going — literally starting from nothing but words on a page with the legislation passed in 2021 — to now, having a fully functioning court that is kicking out … substantive, well thought out, well-written decisions that give guidance to litigants, to lawyers, and ultimately to the Supreme Court for those few cases that will be appealed from the ICA to the Supreme Court,” Schulz said.

“Whenever I go down on the campaign trail, I automatically start with, ‘let me tell you what the ICA is and why it’s important,'” Schulz continued. “I can’t tell you the number of times people come up to me and say, ‘thank you so much for that. I didn’t realize what the ICA did and how important it is.’ I think that the court’s importance is going to continue to grow in the minds of West Virginians because it’s already established itself in the legal community as an absolutely critical part of West Virginia’s judicial structure.”

Derek Redd contributed to this story.