CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Tucker County native Allen H. Loughry II will become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia on January 1, 2017.

Chief Justice Loughry, the first Justice from Tucker County, will exercise a unique leadership role as the presiding officer and head of the state’s judicial branch of government. The Chief Justice acts as the administrative leader of the Supreme Court and the state’s lower courts. In addition to presiding over oral arguments, another important daily duty of the Chief Justice is to rule on motions to recuse judicial officers in lower courts and to assign replacement magistrates, family court judges, and circuit court judges when one of those judicial officers is unable to serve in a particular case due to a conflict of interest.
“I am enormously honored to have the opportunity to serve as Chief Justice,” he said. “I will work hard to do the best job I can in moving the court system forward. The elected judicial officers and our court employees in West Virginia do an excellent job, and I am proud to be a part of our judicial system.”
Chief Justice Loughry is also proud of his Tucker County upbringing.
“I grew up in a very average West Virginia household. My father is an Air Force veteran, worked construction most of his life, was a small business owner, and retired as the Tucker County Assessor. My mother worked in a shoe plant for period of time assembling shoes, and she later retired from her position as a secretary for the Department of Agriculture. They still live in Parsons,” Chief Justice Loughry said. “My parents taught me and my two sisters the values of honesty, integrity, and hard work.
“In Tucker County you basically know everyone. I was fortunate to get to know so many people from the community throughout the years while growing up and working in my father’s store, The Parsons News & Novelty, and also in writing for the local newspaper, The Parsons Advocate,” Chief Justice Loughry said. “I am better for all of those experiences.”
Chief Justice Loughry has fond memories of playing in two state football championship games for the Tucker County Mountain Lions. “The lifelong friendships I have with my teammates are something that I will always cherish. I am also appreciative of the constant support the community has always shown toward all of our athletes as well as toward the students who excelled in the many areas other than sports,” he said.
His civics teacher at Tucker County High School, Mrs. Carol Roy, helped nurture his interest in government. She nominated him to attend the Presidential Classroom in 1988. Students from every state and twelve other countries met in Washington, D.C., to learn about politics and government, but the only other student from West Virginia was Berkeley Springs native Kelly Swaim. Chief Justice Loughry and then-Kelly Swaim met during the program in the office of then-U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd.
“She is now Kelly Loughry and the mother of our wonderful son, Justus,” Chief Justice Loughry explained. “We both still have our pictures of the very first time we met in Senator Byrd’s office. We have them framed side-by-side.”
In 2014, Chief Justice Loughry was the recipient of the coveted Tuckineer Award, given to individuals for their civic commitment and service to Tucker County. He has always strongly believed in giving back to the community and that is why he is bringing the entire Supreme Court to Tucker County in April 2017. The Supreme Court will hear those cases as a part of the LAWS (Legal Advancement for West Virginia Students) program on April 4.
“We are going to bring the juniors and seniors from Tucker County High School to the Tucker County Courthouse to hear three actual cases that are currently pending before the Supreme Court,” Chief Justice Loughry said. “I will work with local judges, attorneys, and school officials during the months leading up to the arguments to prepare the students for the cases. I am hopeful this will be a fun and useful experience for all of the students and that the community will also attend the April arguments and enjoy the day.
“It’s important to me to send the message to all the students growing up in our small, but vibrant county that they do matter, they do count, and they can achieve anything they set their minds to if they work hard and play by the rules,” Chief Justice Loughry said. “I have always felt that anyone should be able to participate in our political system regardless of their personal wealth or political connections.”
After high school, Chief Justice Loughry received a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from West Virginia University. While at the University, he continued to work as a reporter for The Parsons Advocate and also wrote for the [Morgantown] Dominion Post and was a freelance writer for The Associated Press.
Chief Justice Loughry also obtained four law degrees: an S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science) from American University, Washington College of Law, where he had the distinction of being one of the first three people (and the only one from North America) to be admitted to the SJD program.
Chief Justice Loughry also has an LL.M. (Master of Laws in Criminology and Criminal Justice) from the University of London; an LL.M. (Master of Laws in Law and Government) from American University, Washington College of Law; and a JD (Juris Doctor) degree from Capital University School of Law, where he graduated with the honor of Order of the Curia.
On October 4, 2013, the American University, Washington College of Law awarded him its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
In 1999, Chief Justice Loughry completed the program of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law through the American University, Washington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and the University of Utrecht, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights. He also studied law in England at the University of Oxford and received the program’s top political science award.
In 1997, he completed a legal externship at the Ohio Supreme Court. He also served as a personal assistant to the Tucker County Prosecuting Attorney in 1988 and 1989. Chief Justice Loughry served as a Special Assistant to former U.S. Rep. Harley O. Staggers, Jr., and as a Direct Aide to former West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton.
Chief Justice Loughry was a Senior Assistant Attorney General in the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office from 1997 to 2003. He served in both the Appellate and Administration Divisions and was appointed as a special prosecuting attorney on numerous occasions to handle criminal cases throughout West Virginia. In 2003, he began working as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, a job he held when he was elected to the Court.
In 2006, Chief Justice Loughry’s book, Don’t Buy Another Vote, I Won’t Pay for a Landslide, was published. It is a non-partisan look at West Virginia’s history of political corruption. Forewords were written by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and the late U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV). Chief Justice Loughry attributes his non-partisan book to how he approaches his job as a Justice.
“I have always said that Justices should treat everyone the same and follow the law rather than follow a political agenda,” Chief Justice Loughry said. “The Supreme Court should never be political. Justices must be able to make impartial decisions based solely upon our laws. The process must be fair whether we are dealing with a baker or a billionaire. This is necessary for both individual liberty and economic prosperity and serves even a far more important goal of maintaining public trust in the legal system as it keeps the other political branches in check.”
Due to his academic and professional background, Chief Justice Loughry is a frequent speaker on issues of government, ethics reform, politics, history, education, and the election process. He also has taught political science at the University of Charleston.

He was humbled when he was elected to the Supreme Court in 2012 and enormously proud of his vote totals from his home county. Nearly 70 percent of the people who cast ballots in Tucker County in that election voted for him, in spite of the fact that it was a four-person race and many people voted a straight-ticket ballot.

“I am deeply honored that West Virginians voted for me four years ago and allow me to serve as a Justice on the Supreme Court,” Chief Justice Loughry said. “I said during my campaign that if the citizens of this State would honor me with their votes, that I would serve them with honor, and that is how I approach this job on a daily basis, and that is certainly how I will approach the job as the Chief Justice.”