The chambers of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
CHARLESTON – One of the 15 applicants to be the next justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals currently works for the Nebraska Attorney General’s office.
Viglianco
Zach Viglianco is the principal deputy solicitor general for Nebraska AG Mike Hilgers. He took over that position in May after serving as acting solicitor general since January. He has been a deputy solicitor general for Hilgers’ office since May 2023. He started work in the office the month prior.
Before that, Viglianco was counsel to the West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee for the 2023 regular session. His resume also includes time clerking for U.S. Court of Appeals judges in the Fifth and Fourth Circuits as well a year clerking for now senior U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Sr. in Southern West Virginia.
“Obviously, it is impossible for you to look inside my head, but cut into my veins and you’ll see I bleed gold and blue,” Viglianco wrote in an email to The West Virginia Record. “I can’t say if I am the best candidate for the vacancy, but I’m certain that I am a West Virginian.”
Viglianco also spent nearly four years in the West Virginia Attorney General’s office as an assistant AG and assistant solicitor general as well as seven months with the Scott Depot-based law firm of Orndorff Mowen. He graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law in 2014, and he obtained his undergrad degree in political science and economics from WVU.
“West Virginia is my home,” Viglianco wrote in an email to The West Virginia Record. “I wasn’t born there, but my father is a native West Virginian. I moved to Saint Albans when I was in third grade, and West Virginia has been my home ever since. I graduated from Saint Albans High School, went to WVU (for both undergrad and law school), and have spent the majority of my adult life in West Virginia.
“Yes, I have lived other places – such as when I was clerking for federal judges – but always with the intention that those moves were temporary and that I would return to West Virginia.”
To be a West Virginia Supreme Court Justice, a person must:
· Be a state citizen for at least five years;
· Be at least 30 years old, and
· Have practiced law in the state for at least 10 years.
“Legally speaking, I would say I am ‘domiciled’ in West Virginia,” Viglianco continued in the email. “Case law indicates that for election law purposes, domicile is what matters. See, e.g. State ex rel. Sandy v. Johnson, 212 W. Va. 343, 349 (2002). Johnson says that for purposes of election law ‘the term “residence” is synonymous with the term “domicile.”
“A person may live in several different places but he [or she] can have only one domicile. Domicile is a place a person intends to retain as a permanent residence and go back to ultimately after moving away. …
“I have never viewed my time in Nebraska as anything other than a temporary stop – a tour of duty – until the right opportunity to permanently return to my beloved home presented itself.”
For example, Viglianco said he never has registered to vote in Nebraska.
“I am in West Virginia frequently,” he wrote. “All my family lives there. I have a West Virginia driver’s license. I keep current on my CLE obligations in West Virginia ...
“But most importantly, I have consistently maintained that it was my intention to return to West Virginia. In fact, I said that very directly to the Attorney General of Nebraska during my initial interview for my current job.”
The state Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission is scheduled to interview the 15 applicants for the Supreme Court on July 17. After that, the JVAC has 90 days to submit 2-5 names to the governor for consideration. The governor then has 30 days to make an appointment. He can select one of those names submitted by the JVAC, or he can select someone of his own choosing as long as that person meets the requirements for the job.
The Supreme Court vacancy was created by the retirement of Justice Beth Walker. Because she retired before the end of her term, Gov. Patrick Morrisey will appoint a replacement from the list submitted by the JVAC. The appointee will serve until the next general election and can run to fill the rest of the unexpired term. Walker’s term was scheduled to conclude at the end of 2028.
In addition to Viglianco, the other 14 applicants are:
Angela Alexander is an assistant attorney general with the state Attorney General’s office and a former family court judge.
Matthew Chapman is a partner at Rawle & Henderson in Wheeling.
Cody Corliss is an associate professor of law at West Virginia University.
Thomas Ewing is a circuit judge from Fayette County.
Laura Faircloth is a circuit judge from the Eastern Panhandle.
Dan Greear is a judge on the state Intermediate Court of Appeals and a former circuit court judge.
E. Ryan Kennedy is the state Secretary of Veteran’s Assistance and a former mayor of Clarksburg.
Todd Kirby is a circuit court judge from Raleigh County.
Harry Kirkpatrick III is a retired circuit court judge from Raleigh County.
Brenden Long is an attorney from Putnam County. He previously sought a vacant Supreme Court seat in 2018.
Shawn Morgan is the managing member of Steptoe & Johnson’s Bridgeport office.
R. Steven Redding is a circuit court judge from the Eastern Panhandle.
Mark Sadd is the managing member of Lewis Gianola’s Charleston office.
Steven Thomas is a member of Kay Casto and Chaney in Charleston.
