Logan County Magistrate Dwight Williamson (pictured from the dedication of the Main Street courthouse bench for retired Circuit Court Judge Roger Perry) is accused of violating judicial ethics rules with his weekly column in The Logan Banner
CHARLESTON A Logan County magistrate was subject to a hearing before the West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission Thursday for a complaint connected to his opinion column appearing in newspaper publications.
Magistrate Dwight Williamson was the subject of a complaint filed with the investigation arm of the West Virginia judicial system in June. The issue pertained to a popular column Williamson writes weekly in The Logan Banner. Williamson was a news reporter for the publication before entering into politics and running for magistrate.
Typically, the column centers around historic matters. Williamson’s writings in the column most often lament a time that was simpler; the usual complaints and grievances of the boomer generation on display weekly in the Banner and other HD Media publications.
According to the JIC, the complaint is about a column first published in October 2023. Williamson vented his dismay with the rise of fentanyl and the ever-present drug plague in southern West Virginia. He wrote that a trafficker dealing in fentanyl “in any form is a murderer and should be dealt with accordingly.”
First reported by the West Virginia Record, the JIC complaint alleged Williamson may have violated many rules of the Judicial Code of Conduct. According to the rules, judges and magistrates are subject to a strict code where they must comply with law and promote the public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judicial branch. Magistrates must also avoid publicly expressing opinions on political matters or on pending cases.
According to Magistrate Williamson’s column, he does not oppose executing convicted drug dealers. He also suggested that jailing substance abusers is not working in curbing addiction.
Williamson has been subject of other JIC investigations. He received a public admonishment stemming from a Personal Safety Order proceeding. Moreover, Williamson was suspended with no pay for thirty days in 2021 when he posted to social media his hope for the arrest of a suspect after signing their search warrant.
A written recommended decision is expected to be submitted to the State Supreme Court in the next sixty days.
PHOTO | A M Stone