CHARLESTON – The state Democratic Party is now calling for the chief justice of the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals to recuse himself from cases involving data centers represented by House Speaker Roger Hanshaw.

Hanshaw represents Fundamental Data LLC, the developers of a data center in Tucker County where there is opposition to the project, and MGS CNP 1, an affiliate of Fidelis New Energy that was involved in a generating facility for nearby data centers in Mason County.

Chief Justice Dan Greear was Hanshaw’s chief counsel before his appointment to the Intermediate Court in 2022 and Hanshaw has hosted fundraisers raising about $60,000 for Greear, the party said. The West Virginia Code of Judicial Conduct says a judge must disqualify himself “in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” the party said.

“This is not a close call,” party Chairman Mike Pushkin said. “When a judge has close professional monetary and political ties to an attorney appearing before the court, particularly one who also wields extraordinary power as Speaker of the House, public confidence in the fairness of the judicial system is at risk.”

The court does not respond to statements by outside interest groups who are not a party to a case, a spokesman for the court on Friday said.

A case pending before the court was filed by Tucker United, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and Sierra Club against the Division of Air Quality and Fundamental Data.

A disclosure notice filed in March with the court said Greear’s son was a summer associate at Bowles Rice LLP in Charleston during the summers of 2024 and 2025 and will be employed in Morgantown this fall. Fundamental Data is represented by Hanshaw and William M. Lorensen, who are partners, and Marc F. Mignault, who is an associate, at Bowles Rice LLP in Charleston. Greear’s understanding is his son was not involved in representation of any party in the case and his compensation was not dependent upon the outcome, the notice said.

“Chief Judge Greear is of the opinion that there is no basis for his disqualification in this matter,” the notice said.

However, to avoid the appearance of impropriety, Greear requested if there is an objection, to file motions for disqualification under the Rules of Appellate Procedure by March 25. None have yet to be filed, the spokesman said.

Also, under the Code of Judicial Conduct, judicial officers or candidates for office are prohibited from personally soliciting or accepting campaign contributions. A campaign committee can be established to manage and conduct a campaign on their behalf.

The judges are not informed of contributions, contributors’ names and amounts to maintain independence, integrity and impartiality, so the information is not included in the standard disclosure letters because the judges are unaware of it, the spokesman said.