BECKLEY, W.Va. — A new Raleigh County judge is taking an oath of office.
Todd Kirby was officially sworn in as judge in the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court in Raleigh County Tuesday.
Kirby said his first hearing in the new role was to start bright and early the day following the swearing in ceremony, but he’s ready.
“It’s overwhelming the amount of support that I’ve had from the community over the years, I mean from the people that have shown up here today it really lets me know that I’ve got huge shoes to fill and there are a lot of people counting on me, and I’m looking forward to going to work on day one,” Kirby said.
Tenth Judicial Circuit Judge Andrew Dimlich delivered the oath of office.
Governor Jim Justice appointed Kirby to the role on July 2 after Judge Robert Burnside retired May 31.
While the current term ends on December 31, Kirby was elected in the May Primary to permanently fill the new eight-year term which begins on January 1, 2025.
He said he plans to hold transparency and fairness to the highest degree in his new role.
“If there’s one word that will be able to define me as a judge looking forward it will be fair,” Kirby said. “I think everyone deserves and expects a fair trial and to be heard, and at the end of my career I hope that’s what the impression I have left is.”
A Raleigh County native, Kirby has been practicing law in the area for over a decade after opening his law firm in Beckley in 2011 where he worked until just recently.
Within the past couple of years, Kirby has also been serving as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Raleigh County with his focus being on abuse and neglect cases.
Between working to finish up both his law practice career and his job as an assistant prosecutor, Kirby said it has been a very hectic transition for him stepping into the new role. However, he said he is confident those continuing his work in both of his previous positions can get the job done.
“It has been a rat race basically for the last month trying to get everything switched over from my private practice, luckily there are two really good attorneys that have stepped up, two young attorneys who have taken over my practice, so that has taken a lot of weight off of my shoulders, and then getting all of my abuse and neglect cases taken care of at the prosecutors office, and once again, I’m surrounded by an amazing team there so that’s going to be seamless,” he said.
In 2022, Kirby represented the 44th District in the West Virginia House of Delegates. He resigned from that position to become a judge.
Kirby said Raleigh County boasts some of the best judges in the state, and he is honored to become one of them and learn from the mentorship they provide.
“It’s a real honor and a huge benefit for me as a new judge to have these amazing judges that I can go to to ask for advice and for help which I’ve already done, I’ve probably been driving Judge Dimlich crazy over the past two weeks asking him questions, but it’s nice to have that,” Kirby said.