The prosecuting attorney of Morgan County has been named a circuit judge in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle.
Debra McLaughlin was named to the post Monday by Gov. Jim Justice, according to a news release from the governor's office. She replaces John Yoder, a circuit judge in Jefferson County who died in June.
McLaughlin has been Morgan County's prosecutor since 2002, according to the release.
The 23rd Judicial Circuit includes Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties. McLaughlin will be the only one of the circuit's six judges not based in Berkeley County. The circuit's other judges include Bridget Cohee, Laura Faircloth, Michael Lorensen, Gray Silver III and Christopher Wilkes.