Mike Honaker, the newly appointed inspector general for the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security, may not be qualified to hold the appointment under the state Constitution. (Photo Provided)

CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday that he was unaware of any potential conflicts over the appointment of the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security’s new inspector general position.

Justice, speaking during his weekly administration briefing, said he would look further in the matter, but expressed his confidence in DHS Inspector General Mike Honaker.

“It has not been brought to my attention yet and everything, but I’ll be more than glad to check it out,” Justice said. “Mike Honaker is a good man and I think he will do a fine job.”

Justice announced the appointment of Honaker, a Republican delegate from Greenbrier County, as inspector general at the end of August. Honaker, who was the director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for Greenbrier County, was appointed to the House at the beginning of January 2022 to fill the remaining term of Barry Bruce, R-Greenbrier, who resigned for health reasons.

Honaker was elected to a full two-year term at the end of 2022. Prior to coming to West Virginia, Honaker was a retired Virginia State Police officer and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

In an article Monday on The Real WV, a statewide news website founded by Stephen Baldwin, a former Senate Minority Leader and Greenbrier County Democratic senator, reported Honaker may not be qualified to keep the inspector general appointment. According to the state Constitution Article 6 Section 15, senators and delegates are prohibited from being appointed to any for-profit civil created during the lawmaker’s term in office.

House Bill 3360, creating an Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Homeland Security, passed the House of Delegates and state Senate at the end of the 2023 legislative session in March. Honaker voted in favor of the bill.

“When asked on Sept. 1 by WV Public Broadcasting whether he voted for HB3360 knowing he would get the position, he said, ‘Absolutely not. It was never discussed, and never occurred to me,'” Baldwin wrote. “But the constitution takes it a step further, barring an elected official from serving in a role he or she helped create.”

“There’s always just some back-and-forth, and maybe there’s somebody in Greenbrier County that didn’t like Mike or whatever the situation might be. I don’t really know what’s going on there,” Justice said. “From the standpoint of him technically being eligible and us legally doing the right thing in the hire, I’ll follow up on your question and check it out. But I have not heard anything in regard to that.”

The new Office of the Inspector General will conduct and supervise internal investigations into the eight agencies the department manages: the West Virginia Fusion Center, the Division of Emergency Management, Justice and Community Services, the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Parole Board, the Division of Protective Services, the State Fire Marshal and the West Virginia State Police.

The bill gives the inspector general authority over new and existing investigations. The governor appoints the inspector general with the advice and consent of the state Senate for five-year terms. It gives the governor limited authority to remove an inspector general for misconduct, failure to perform duties and prejudicial conduct.

DHS inspector generals are required to have expertise in at least two categories: law, auditing, government operations, financial analysis, management analysis, public administration, and fraud investigations. The salary for inspector general is $95,000 per year.

The bill gives the inspector general a wide degree of latitude to conduct investigations, including investigations into waste, fraud and abuse. The office has subpoena powers.

The law prohibits the governor, the DHS cabinet secretary or any employee of the department from impeding or interfering with investigations, inspections, evaluations or reviews.

HB 3360 was passed in the middle of multiple controversies surrounding the West Virginia State Police stemming from then-anonymous allegations made earlier in 2023 in a letter to state officials and media outlets.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the alleged placing of cameras inside the women’s locker room at the State Police Academy in Institute and the destruction of video evidence. The allegations are now being investigated by state and federal law enforcement.

Other allegations made in the letter included the theft of money from a patron at Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Nitro by two State Police troopers who were not fired when brought to the attention of former State Police Superintendent Jan Cahill’s attention. An investigation is ongoing into the death of a Hagerstown man along I-81 after being tazed by troopers.

The State Police also are accused of using ghost accounts to get around state purchasing rules, misusing state purchasing cards for personal purchases, extramarital affairs between officers and fights, the misuse of federal grants, overtime abuse and more.

Justice appointed former West Virginia Capitol Police deputy director Jack Chambers as the new State Police superintendent in March. Justice ordered Chambers to take the results of the investigation conducted by Department of Homeland Security Cabinet Secretary Jeff Sandy and investigate further into alleged actions by State Police top brass.