By Laura Bilson
For Charleston Gazette-Mail
As his wife, Becky, helped H. L. Kirkpatrick into his shiny, new robe he remarked that he had worn out four sets of robes before this one.
The new justice joked that his last one was “a choir robe [he] dyed black.”
Kirkpatrick, 75, of Beckley, was officially sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia during an investiture ceremony Monday at the state Capitol.
Kirkpatrick was elected to the Supreme Court in the primary election in May to serve out the unexpired six-year term of the late Justice Tim Armstead, who died in August 2025. He was initially sworn into office during a small, private ceremony on June 12 in order to begin performing his official duties with the Court.
Justice Kirkpatrick said serving on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals as “a complete honor.”
“I’ve always held this court in the highest esteem, and I have to pinch myself daily,” said Kirkpatrick. “I can’t believe that I’m here.”
A few hundred people were on hand for the investiture, including Kirkpatrick’s wife and his sons, John and Robert.
Justice Kirkpatrick was born in Beckley and raised in Fayette and Raleigh counties. He attended Nuttall High School in Fayette County for two years and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Kentucky and law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law.
Kirkpatrick began his law career in Pineville, Wyoming County, in 1976, with the law firm of Bailey, Worrell and Viers. He operated Kirkpatrick Law Offices from 1979 until 1985, when he joined the Beckley law firm of Ashworth and Ashworth, which became Ashworth and Kirkpatrick.
Justice Kirkpatrick was appointed Circuit Judge of Raleigh County in September 1995 and was re-elected to the office four times. He retired from the Raleigh County bench December 2024 and then was granted Senior Judge Status in January 2025.
Kirkpatrick replaces Gerald Titus, who was appointed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to the bench in November. Kirkpatrick defeated Titus in the May primary election.
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