Bill Pauley leaves the ceremonial courtroom in the Kanawha County Courthouse, in Charleston, Thursday morning after a three-judge panel removed him as Marmet’s mayor.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It took three judges about 15 minutes Thursday to decide to remove longtime Marmet Mayor Bill Pauley from office.
Pauley, who had served as mayor of Marmet for more than 30 years, shouldn’t be mayor after admitting to ethics violations last year, the judges ruled.
Raleigh Circuit Judge Robert Burnside Jr., Cabell Circuit Judge Christopher Chiles and Boone Circuit Judge William Thompson agreed with Marmet residents who filed a petition to remove Pauley. The judges determined that admissions of guilt that Pauley had signed in a conciliation agreement with the West Virginia Ethics Commission in September provided grounds for his removal.
Marmet City Council members will determine who will serve as interim mayor, the judges said.
In the conciliation agreement, which is the equivalent of a plea bargain with the Ethics Commission, Pauley admitted to using his public office for private gain by using it to register voters after the May voter registration deadline had passed…
