×

West Virginia lawmakers hear testimony about Supreme Court computer use

Photo by Steven Allen Adams Scott Harvey, right, former director of technology for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, testifies Friday before the House Judiciary Committee.

CHARLESTON — The former director of technology for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals gave lawmakers an account Friday of state computers being used for personal use by a justice already under federal investigation.

The House Judiciary Committee met for the second day of hearings looking into articles of impeachment for one or more justices. The committee started meeting Thursday, hearing from the Legislative Auditor’s Office regarding three audits of the court.

Scott Harvey, the former director of technology for the court, told the committee about his visits to the homes of justices. Harvey, and sometimes other court staff, helped justices set up remote access from their homes to Supreme Court computers, he said.

Justice Allen Loughry also had a remote access setup, but the court’s technology staff also set up other computers that Loughry and his family shared. These state-owned computers, which included three desktop computers, a tablet, and a laptop, were valued between $800 and $1,200 apiece

According to the 32-count complaint from the state Judicial Investigation Commission, technology staff created accounts for Loughry’s wife and son on at least one of the state-owned computers. The family used the computers to store photos and play video games. At least four times, technology staff had to go to Loughry’s home to services the computers due to storage space issues, the complaint states.

The JIC report said other justices had one computer set up with remote access to the Supreme Court, and no other justice’s family members had accounts on state computers. A review of one of the computers at Loughry’s house in February found the computer was predominately used for personal, not state, business, the report said.

Under questioning from Delegate Tom Fast, R-Fayette, Harvey said he feared for his job if he didn’t set up the shared computer.

“I wasn’t directed to not connect the shared computer. I was suggested to not connect,” Harvey said. “Don’t quote me on the exact text, but ‘I prefer this computer not be associated on the supreme court network.'”

“I’m sure I had a concern, but when this is your supervisor (Loughry) telling you to ‘this is what I suggest’ or ‘this is the way I want it,’ then you do it.”

The JIC investigation also confirmed that Loughry took a couch formerly owned by Justice Joe Albright and had it delivered to his home. When reporters started asking about the whereabouts of the couch, Loughry used court employees to remove the couch to the court’s warehouse. State code requires abandoned property go to the state Treasurer’s Office

Loughry also had an antique desk in his home office, originally purchased by Capitol architect Cass Gilbert, in violation of the Ethics Act regarding using state resources for personal gain. On top of the JIC charges, Loughry faces a 22-count federal indictment. He was suspended without pay.

Another line of questioning focused on a document that Harvey was reportedly instructed to get the state Treasurer’s Office to sign off on or he would be fired. Delegate Ben Queen, R-Harrison, asked Harvey to elaborate on which justice threatened Harvey.

“Fear of my job from Justice (Menis) Ketchum,” Harvey said.

According to Harvey’s testimony, Ketchum allegedly threatened to fire Harvey twice if he couldn’t get the state Treasurer’s Office to sign off on a proposed plan to create a magistrate court record system. The system would allow the public to access magistrate court documents for a fee.

The court wanted to create a payment process to get around the state Treasurer’s Office, which told the Supreme Court they could not legally do that, officials said.

Ketchum wrote a letter of resignation Wednesday and will retire at the end of July. The House Judiciary Committee announced Thursday it would no longer have need to pursue articles of impeachment against Ketchum.

Another member of the court, Chief Justice Margaret Workman, came under fire for the hiring of a campaign consultant for a job at the court. Harvey testified that John Pritt, the owner of JRP Consulting, worked on Workman’s election.

Steve Canterbury, former administrator for the court, hired Pritt as a tech consultant even though Harvey said his hiring was unneeded.

In a letter sent Friday to House Judiciary Chairman John Shott, R-Mercer, the court pushed back on the committee’s investigation. Barbara Allen, the interim director of the court appointed by Workman, said lawmakers were “fishing.”

“Without some specificity as to the alleged impeachable offenses under investigation, the legislative hearing may result in the conduct of an improper fishing expedition into the business of the judicial branch,” Allen said. “Additionally, some of the committee’s arguments sound more in prosecutorial than in legislative concerns.”

“The purpose of this letter is to see if we can find common ground that will enable us to assist the Legislature in fulfilling its proper duties while also protecting the judicial branch of government from any improper incursion, interference, or interruption of its duties,” Allen said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today