Jefferson commissioners who “weaponized” positions to withhold quorum removed from office

A three-judge panel removed Jefferson County commissioners Jennifer Krouse and Tricia Jackson from office on Wednesday. (Greenleaf123 | Getty Images)

Two Jefferson County commissioners who “conspired” to stop the appointment of another county commissioner by refusing to attend meetings and withholding a quorum over a two-month period were removed from office Wednesday, according to a court order.

The order, issued by a three-judge panel, ruled that Jefferson County Commissioners Jennifer Krouse and Tricia Jackson, who is currently running as a Republican for state auditor, must immediately hand over all property from their time in office to another member of the county commission.

Krouse and Jackson were arrested in March on 42 misdemeanor charges each, including charges related to conspiracy for their coordination to keep the commission from meeting quorum, failure to perform their official duties and failure to fill the vacant county commission seat, among other charges.

The women intentionally missed every Jefferson County Commission meeting between Sept. 19 and Nov. 16 for what they called a “protest” against the procedure for filling a vacant commission seat. Over this time, they continued collecting their paychecks for serving on the commission, totalling nearly $8,800 in taxpayer funds each.

In social media postings throughout that time that are included as evidence in the order, Krouse said that missing the meetings was a purposeful tactic to keep the commission from filling its vacant seat with a candidate who was not a “true conservative.”

“I’d hoped three Republican commissioners would have little trouble agreeing on a conservative candidate to fill the spot. When that didn’t happen, I counted on the Republican Executive Committee to select three actual conservatives for the commission to review,” Krouse wrote on Facebook on Aug. 17, the last meeting she attended before starting the “protest.” “Unfortunately, far too many of the elected ‘Republicans’ in West Virginia seem to be either incompetent, self-interested, closeted liberal or some combination thereof.”

According to the removal order, Krouse and Jackson continued to post on Facebook as they skipped county commission meetings every two weeks, doubling down on their intentions to keep the body from meeting a quorum and naming a replacement for the vacant seat despite mandates to do so in state code.

Without being able to meet a quorum throughout that time, the commission was unable to perform its codified duties to keep the county running, the order reads, endangering public safety and costing taxpayers thousands of dollars in lawsuits, fees and missed grant funding opportunities.

Over the time of their missed meetings, crucial county positions went unfilled and bills lapsed, as did critical contracts to keep the 911 center operational and responsive for emergencies. Per the order, all of these instances, and others, were a direct result of Jackson and Krouse intentionally missing meetings.

In the order, Judges Joseph K. Reeder, of the 29th Judicial Circuit; Jason A. Wharton, of the 4th Judicial Circuit and Perri Jo DeChristopher, of the 17th Judicial Circuit ruled that Krouse and Jackson were derelict in the duties they took an oath to perform when they took office.

Their personal beliefs, the judges wrote, have no place interfering with those duties.

“[Krouse and Jackson] do not have a right to protest in violation of their duties because their duties are absolute. Their personal disagreements must yield to their duty as elected officials,” the order reads. “[Krouse and Jackson] have no right to use their office and their official acts to form a personal protest.”

In March, Jefferson County Commission president Steve Stolipher said he had no question that the motive for the women’s actions was “political.”

“What they did was a political, illegal strategy, and it broke the law,” he told West Virginia Watch following their arrests.

Per the order, judges wrote that the missed meetings were more than just “casual disregard” for their office and duties, and instead were a “knowing refusal” to comply and a “weaponization” of their ability to deny quorum and holdup county business.

Krouse and Jackson, through the two months of missed meetings, started applying conditions to their attendance, according to the order. They said they’d only participate in meetings if filling the vacancy wasn’t on the agenda and, later, if Stolipher agreed to step down as commission president.

Eventually, on Nov. 30, Jackson and Krouse returned to the county commission after a judge ordered their attendance. At that meeting — and “ironically,” as the order reads — the commission vacancy was filled.

“This refusal to meet until ordered to do so removes all doubt that [Jackson and Krouse’s] actions are a willful and deliberate disregard of law,” according to the removal order. “… The Court therefore finds [Krouse and Jackson] … prioritized their own agendas over the needs of the citizens of Jefferson County and weaponized their deliberate and intentional refusal to attend meetings and appoint a fifth commissioner in order for [them] to advance their own agenda.”

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