Two new circuit judges will take the oath of office this week in Southern West Virginia.
Mark Wills and Jennifer Dent both won elections last month for full terms on the circuit bench beginning in January. After they won the elections, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin appointed them to fill the current judicial vacancies until their full terms start.
Wills' swearing-in ceremony is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Mercer County Courthouse in Princeton. Wills has practiced law for 35 years. He also has served in the state Senate and House of Delegates.
Dent will be sworn in at 2 p.m. Friday at the Greenbrier County Courthouse in Lewisburg. She has been an assistant prosecutor for more than 20 years in Greenbrier, Monroe and Summers counties.
She will replace Jim Rowe, who resigned abruptly earlier this year after the election filing deadline had passed. Many Greenbrier County political observers expected Rowe to run for re-election, and some said he kept his plans secret to discourage others from entering the race to replace him. Rowe will swear in Dent at Friday's ceremony.