WHEELING — Two people from Ohio County are among the 12 who have applied to fill the vacancy on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, according to multiple reports.

Local attorneys Elgine McArdle and Martin Sheehan have thrown their respective hats in the ring to fill the spot left following the death of state Supreme Court Justice Tim Armstead in August.

According to West Virginia Code, the eight-person Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission will send a list of no fewer than two and no more than five finalists to Gov. Patrick Morrisey for consideration. That must be done within 90 days of the vacancy.

Morrisey will then make the appointment within 30 days of getting that list.

The appointee will serve until the next general election, when they can then run to serve the rest of the unexpired term. Armstead’s term runs until 2032.

Both McArdle and Sheehan are longtime local attorneys. McArdle ran for a spot on the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals in 2024 and has been chair of both the Ohio County and West Virginia Republican Party. Sheehan ran for a spot on the West Virginia Supreme Court in 2018.

The other applicants for the position include:

– Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan County Circuit Judge Laura Faircloth

– Attorney General’s Office lawyer David Gilbert

– West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Judge Dan Greear

– West Virginia Supreme Court staff attorney Eric Hudnall

– West Virginia Secretary of Veterans Assistance and former Clarksburg Mayor E. Ryan Kennedy

– Teays Valley personal injury attorney Brenden Long

– Berkeley and Morgan County Circuit judge R. Steven Redding

– Former circuit judge and current Hardy County Prosecutor Robert Ryan

– Commercial trucking law attorney Gerald Titus III

– Former West Virginia Senate counsel and current deputy solicitor general for the Department of Justice in the state of Nebraska Zachary Viglianco.