Justice Bill Wooton speaks August 31 during the public investiture ceremony for new Justice H.L. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick.
CHARLESTON – West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Bill Wooton experienced a medical incident Wednesday morning on the bench during the first day of oral arguments for the fall term.
Arguments were stopped, and emergency personnel were called in to treat Wooton.
Supreme Court spokesman Jared Hunt said Wooton was “conscious, alert and conversing with first responders as they treated him.”
Wooton
Hunt said Wooton then was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
The court canceled oral arguments for the rest of the day, and the hearings will be rescheduled.
Seated between Chief Justice Haley Bunn and new Justice Kirk Kirkpatrick, Wooton was listening to the first case of the day when the courtroom live stream showed him leaning back in his chair with his head tilted to one side. Bunn then moved toward Wooton, and Kirkpatrick motioned for help.
One of the attorneys arguing the case urged someone to call a nurse and 911.
Wooton was sworn into office December 30, 2020, to a 12-year-term on the Supreme Court. He served as chief justice in 2025.
A native of Raleigh County, Wooton received a bachelor’s degree in business management from Marshall University and a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law, where he was editor-in-Chief of the West Virginia Law Review, Order of the Coif and graduated at the top of his class.
He previously served as a law clerk for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John A. Field Jr., assistant state Attorney General and assistant Raleigh County Prosecutor. He practiced law in Beckley from 1977 until 2020 when he was elected to the court.
Wooton also served in the West Virginia Legislature for 26 years as both a member of the House of Delegates and the state Senate. During that time, he served as House Majority Leader and as Senate Judiciary Chairman.
He also served more than 30 years in the United States Army Reserve and the West Virginia Army National Guard, where he retired as a colonel. He is a longtime member of the Beckley Rotary Club and the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce. Wooton also is a permanent member of the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit and is a West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow.
He and his wife, Shir, have three adult sons and five grandchildren. They live in Beckley.
