Jackson, fellow Jefferson County commissioner arrested on charges related to skipping meetings
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CHARLES TOWN -- Two Jefferson County commissioners, including West Virginia state auditor candidate Tricia Jackson, were arrested after the early conclusion of a budget session Tuesday morning.
West Virginia State Police Sgt. Jonathan Meeks arrived at the commission meeting room, where, after speaking quietly with Jackson and Commissioner Jennifer Krouse, he proceeded to place them in his vehicle and transport them to Jefferson County Magistrate Court, where they were arraigned.
Krouse and Jackson face 42 misdemeanor counts, ranging from failure to fulfill their job duties to conspiracy.
The criminal complaint had charges filed by the State Police under the direction of a special prosecutor, John Ours, who serves in Grant County.
The charges stemmed from a period of time between Sept. 21 and Nov. 16 when the commissioners chose not to attend regularly scheduled commission meetings. The two contended, at the time, that a process to name a fifth commissioner to a vacant seat was unclear in state code, as Jefferson County has five commissioners and state code is written for counties with three commissioners.
When Commission President Steve Stolipher refused to remove the agenda item to fill the vacancy before clarification could be sought, Krouse and Jackson did not attend the meetings.
While the arraignments were closed to the public, Krouse and Jackson said afterward that Magistrate Arthena Roper required a bond of $42,000 for each of them to allow their release from custody. When the commissioners exited the courtroom, they were not aware of who had posted their bond, only that Roper had told them it had been handled, and they were free to go.
Jackson had issued a public statement via her personal Facebook page Tuesday morning following the issuance of the arrest warrants, calling the charges "politically motivated, baseless and a frivolous waste of taxpayer money and prosecutorial resources."
"The intent of these charges is to break my spirit," Jackson wrote. "But, it has had the opposite effect. I will not run from this fight, and I will never stop fighting for Jefferson County and the great state of West Virginia. To be clear, I will not resign from the county commission, and I will not drop out of the race for State Auditor."
Jackson and Krouse are scheduled to appear before a three-judge panel to determine whether they should be removed from office due to their absences from the commission meetings. The request for that removal process to be put in place was done by Jefferson County Prosecutor Matt Harvey. Those proceedings are scheduled to begin March 25.
Jackson is running in the Republican primary for auditor against state House of Delegates Majority Leader Eric Householder, R-Berkeley; former Nicholas County Delegate Caleb Hanna; and state Sen. Mark Hunt, R-Kanawha, in the May primary. The winner is set to face Democrat Mary Ann Claytor, making her third run for the office, in November.