Preston County, West Virginia, judges tackle case backlog; hope to decrease regional jail bill

Now, after a month since Judge Bright took office, she and Judge Shaffer have been working together to process the backlog of cases for the county, officials said.

The transition into the new role was easier than expected, Bright said, adding that her years of experience handling abuse and neglect cases as an attorney allowed her to take on those responsibilities immediately.

“It really prepared me to go in and start handling cases on Day One — [Shaffer] transferred over a bunch of abuse and neglect cases to me, so on Day Two I had 28 hearings,” she said.

Now finding a rhythm, the plan for both judges this year is to split the caseload for Preston and Tucker counties to create a more efficient system to overcome the current backlog, officials said.

To achieve this, the judges divided the abuse and neglect cases for Preston County, Shaffer said, adding that he will continue to handle all criminal and juvenile cases, while Bright will oversee all civil cases.

For Tucker County, Bright will take on the juvenile, abuse and neglect, and civil cases, while Shaffer will still handle all the criminal cases there, officials said.

“A person can breathe, that is the best way that I can put it,” Shaffer said, adding that over the years as the caseload continued to increase, it became increasingly unfair to those in the civil court docket.

Within the court system, abuse, neglect, and juvenile cases take top priority, followed by criminal cases, guardianships, and adoptions, Shaffer said.

Because of these priorities and the increase in cases in Preston County, civil cases were frequently delayed due to a lack of time, he said, adding that scheduling for cases became increasingly difficult.

Currently, “the abuse and neglect docket takes up about 80% of [Judge Bright’s] time,” Shaffer added.

For example, the court’s docket in 2024 began with 172 civil cases. A total of 158 were filed during the year, and 103 were resolved, leaving 219 civil cases pending, he said.

Even though many cases were closed, the caseload still grew due to the demand for handling high-priority cases, officials said.

For felony cases in 2024, the year began with 83. An additional 125 were filed, and the year ended with 103 still open, Shaffer said.

For abuse and neglect cases, the year started with 215, with 85 new cases filed, ending with 206 pending, he said.

“There were 643 cases in 2024 for one judge. Now you divide that between two judges — you can see how that will speed everything up,” Shaffer said, adding that they expect to see the full benefits of having a second judge by July.

Judge Bright added that she didn’t know how Shaffer managed to handle all that he did acting as the county’s sole judge, saying that while you have a case, you are also doing prep work before overseeing a case.

Overall, a major hope for this year is to reduce the regional jail bill for the county, and now it may become a reality with the addition of Bright, officials said.

If a person is arrested and placed in pretrial detention, the county covers the cost. Once they are convicted, the bill passes to the state, Bright said.

Now that Bright is handling half of the prioritized abuse and neglect cases, Shaffer said he can focus more on criminal cases, which could result in more timely resolutions.

In the past, since abuse and neglect and juvenile cases take priority over everything, it became increasingly difficult to schedule cases, leading to longer times for resolution for cases, he said.

“We would have things that were scheduled for trial that we needed to have motion hearings on and we didn’t have time,” he said.

By decreasing the time it takes to close cases — like having a second judge to focus on other high priority cases — it will benefit the county, he said.

“If we can eliminate $500,000 from the regional jail bill, that’s going to be a big bonus for Preston County,” he said.

Additionally, legal officials also plan to improve efficiency by coordinating trial weeks in the future.

Trial weeks are set throughout the year, but starting with the March term of court, Shaffer said he will schedule his trial weeks while Bright will set hers opposite his.

“That way one of us can be having jury trials all the time and the other one can be doing hearings — it’s going to work out, and it’s going to be great,” he said.