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Morrisey announces key staff changes at Department of Homeland Security, other agencies

(Capitol Notes - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreative)

CHARLESTON — New leadership is being placed at the top of the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security, with other staff changes being made at other state agencies and boards.

In a press release Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that senior advisor Douglas Buffington II will serve as acting cabinet secretary for the state Department of Homeland Security.

Buffington was a chief deputy attorney general for Morrisey when he was Attorney General. Buffington is also a former Department of Revenue official. Morrisey first announced Buffington’s role as senior advisor in January prior to becoming the state’s 37th governor. During his role as senior advisor, Buffington’s portfolio included Homeland Security issues. He will also continue to serve as Morrisey’s senior advisor.

Buffington replaces Rob Cunningham, who has served as Homeland Security cabinet secretary since last October, serving as interim secretary after former Homeland Security secretary Mark Sorsaia resigned to accept a circuit judge appointment from former governor Jim Justice.

James Canaday will serve as Buffington’s deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Canaday is the State Law Enforcement Liaison for the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Canaday is also a former Raleigh County Sheriff and deputy sheriff.

Robert Workman will serve as director of the West Virginia Fusion Center, which allows local, state and federal law enforcement and public safety agencies to share resources, expertise and information. The agency works to prevent, detect, investigate and respond to all hazards, including terrorist and criminal activity.

Workman is the Chief Investigator for the West Virginia State Police, working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. He is also a retired State Police trooper with 28 years of experience. He succeeds Jack Luikart, who served as Fusion Center director since 2020.

Del. David Kelly, R-Tyler, will become the new commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Kelly is a former law enforcement officer, serving as a deputy sheriff and sheriff of Pleasants County.

Kelly also served as a Tyler County commissioner before being elected to the House of Delegates in 2018. Currently serving as one of two deputy speakers of the House, Kelly had previously chaired the House Jails and Prisons Committee. He succeeds William Marshall, who was sworn in on April 21 as director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In other appointments, Morrisey appointed Dwayne “Chuck” Smith as executive director of the West Virginia Parkways Authority, which oversees the 88-mile West Virginia Turnpike between Princeton and Charleston. Smith worked as director of facilities planning for Kanawha County Schools since 2022 and previously served as president of Quatro Inc. Smith succeeds interim director Parrish French.

Morrisey appointed former lawmaker Heather Glasko-Tully, former West Virginia Republican Party chairman Doug McKinney, and former Attorney General staffer Robert Cheren to the state Health Care Authority, the state agency that approves certificate of need requests.

Glasko-Tully previously served as a Republican member of the House of Delegates representing part of Nicholas County, losing her primary last year. Glasko-Tully was the vice chair of the House Health and Human Resources Committee and was a supporter of efforts to eliminate the state’s certificate of need program, which regulates where certain health care services can locate within the state.

McKinney is a retired doctor who previously worked at the Clarksburg VA Medical Center, including serving 10 years as chief of urology. McKinney served as chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party from 2006 to 2010.

Cheren is senior counsel at Empower Oversight Whistleblowers and Research, working for Del. Tristan Leavitt, R-Kanawha, who serves as president of the non-profit that provides resources for government and corporate whistleblowers. Previously, Cheren served as a special assistant to Morrisey during his tenure as Attorney General.

Morrisey also made three attorney appointments and three public member appointments to the state Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission, which submits names to the governor for judicial appointments.

Michael Donnelly of Charles Town is the chief operating officer and general counsel for the Club for Growth, a national conservative public policy advocacy organization that endorsed Morrisey in his Republican primary for governor.

In March 2023, Club for Growth Action donated $2.1 million to Black Bear PAC to support Morrisey’s campaign, dumping another $1.1 million in Black Bear PAC between January 2024 and March 2024. Donnelly is also an adjunct professor of Law at Regent University.

Other attorneys appointed by Morrisey were Tyler County Prosecuting Attorney D. Luke Furbee of Middlebourne, and Huntington attorney Marc Williams, the brother of former Huntington mayor and Democratic candidate for governor Steve Williams. The appointments of Donnelly, Furbee, and Williams expire on June 30, 2031.

Public member appointments include Jason Huffman of Charleston, the state director for Americans for Prosperity, which also endorsed, fundraised, and campaigned for Morrisey’s gubernatorial campaign. Huffman is a former operations director for the West Virginia Republican Party and a policy analyst for the West Virginia Senate.

Jeff Lyon of Pipestem has a background in the construction and appliance repair business. Lyon served as chairman of the Summers County Republican Executive Committee from 2016 to 2023. Gwyneth Capehart of Winfield is a senior honor student at Marshall University working towards a doctorate in occupational therapy. The terms for Huffman, Lyon, and Capehart also end on June 30, 2031.

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