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WHEELING -- Kanawha County Family Court Judge Jim Douglas says family law experience is needed on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
He is a candidate for the Division 2 seat on the court in the May 12 primary election.
Douglas has been practicing law for more 39 years, with a focus on divorce and family law. He has been a family law judge in Kanawha County since 2016.
He has experience as a prosecutor in Braxton County, and has done most law work except tax cases during his career.
"It is my intention to restore practical experience to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals," Douglas said. "There are justices there now who have never cross-examined a witness, never picked a jury, never presented an indictment, have never argued a case in front of the court in which they now sit, and have never run a law business."
Most people have little experience with the court when it comes to felony offenses, he said. They are far more likely to appear before the court during a divorce, a child custody hearing or a family-related matter, according to Douglas.
"I have what I call my 'kitchen table campaign,'" he said. "The motto of that campaign is, 'Families First.' Most families sit around their kitchen table in the morning … they don't care whether there is an intermediate appellate court. They don't care whether there is metrogovernment in the state. They don't care whether some county in Virginia wants to join West Virginia. They don't care about solar power.
"But people sitting around that kitchen table worry -- if they are grandparents -- if they are going to see that little grandchild. If they are a working mom, they wonder if they are going to get their child support. A father is wondering whether his ex-wife is going to move his children out of West Virginia. The lady who has filed a domestic violence complaint is wondering, 'What's next?' These are things concerning West Virginians sitting around the table."
Douglas has a few ties to the Wheeling area. His son, Jarod James Douglas is an assistant prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of West Virginia and lives here with his family.
Douglas said he also proposed to his wife Phyllis Veith at Stratford Springs.
"That's romantic, don't you think?" he asked.