page_title: Menis Ketchum
section_title: Election
hierarchical_section_title: Menis Ketchum / Career / Election
caption_attribution_description: English: West Virginia Supreme Court justice Menis Ketchum
context_page_description: Menis E. Ketchum II is an American politician who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He was elected as a Democrat to a twelve-year term on the Court in November 2008 and served as Chief Justice in 2012 and was served a second term as Chief Justice in 2016. He announced his intent to resign on July 11, 2018, with slightly less than 18 months left in his term. On July 31, 2018, he pled guilty to a felony count of fraud related to his personal use of a state vehicle and gas fuel card.
context_section_description: Four Democrats filed for two seats on the State Supreme Court for the 2008 elections. In addition to Ketchum, they were former Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Margaret Workman, the first woman to serve on the state's high court, WVU law professor and ballot access advocate Bob Bastress, and incumbent Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard. Ketchum and Workman defeated Justice Maynard and competed against Republican candidate Beth Walker in the 2008 general election. In the November 4, 2008, general election, Ketchum received 34.54% of the vote to 33.68% for Workman. Walker received 31.78% of the vote.
  Ketchum was sworn in on the Supreme Court of Appeals on December 18, 2008 and officially took his seat on January 1, 2009.
  In 2016, Ketchum was named as the new vice president of the Conference of Chief Justices, an association of the top jurists of the states and territories. In 2017, he published "Pattern Jury Instructions," which took him five years to compile. The purpose of the instructions is so that "trial lawyers and judges to have at their disposal legally correct instructions that are understandable to a lay jury."
caption: Ketchum in September 2008.
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