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Ohio County Magistrate Patty Murphy, center, has announced her retirement effective at the end of January. Here, she stands with the county\u2019s other magistrates, as well as First Circuit Court Judge David Sims. Pictured, from left, are Magistrate Janine Varner, Magistrate Kevin Stryker, Murphy, Sims and Magistrate Tom Howard. (File Photo)<\/p>\n
WHEELING \u2014 After 45 years of working in the Ohio County court system \u2014 including the past 21 as magistrate \u2014 Patty Murphy is calling it a career.<\/p>\n
Murphy is officially retiring as magistrate effective Jan. 31. Worthy Paul Jr., senior status magistrate, has already taken over her duties until an interim magistrate is appointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a long time,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cI\u2019ve cultivated lifelong friendships. I\u2019ve enjoyed working with the prosecutor\u2019s office, the circuit court and all the attorneys and people of Ohio County. It has been an experience, and a pleasure working with the people there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave so abruptly. When I was elected, I was hoping to complete the term. But due to health concerns and other circumstances, it is time to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy wants to focus on family and her health now, and has plans to visit nephews in South Carolina and work out at the Howard Long Wellness Center.<\/p>\n
The responsibility of choosing her successor now falls to Chief Ohio County Circuit Judge Joe Barki. Murphy was last elected in 2024, and there are fewer than two years left in the term. The person selected as magistrate will serve out the remaining time through the 2028 elections.<\/p>\n
Barki said he is required by statute to choose someone to fill Murphy\u2019s vacated seat within 30 days of her retirement on Jan. 31. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she has already announced her retirement we can take some steps toward getting ready to do that appointment, such as receiving resumes and letters of interest from people interested in receiving the appointment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Barki expects prospective candidates to begin sending their information in the coming week. He has set the deadline to apply for Feb. 5.<\/p>\n
He explained he initially thought the unexpired term would be placed on the May 12 primary election ballot. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are conflicting statutes as to whether it needs to be added to the ballot or not,\u201d Barki said. \u201cBut we had a conference with the Secretary of State\u2019s Office, and they advised that, because of the limited time left on her office, it would not need to be added to the May 12 ballot.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, whoever receives the appointment will serve the remainder of her term, but will have to run for re-election in May 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those interested should send their resumes to Barki\u2019s office at the Hancock County Courthouse, P.O. Box 428, 102 Court St., New Cumberland, WV 26047; or phone administrative assistant Stephanie Baumgardner at 304-564-3311, ext. 237, for email address or additional information.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to Patty,\u201d Barki continued. \u201cShe has been a public servant for 40-plus years for Ohio County, and we\u2019re sorry to see her go. She has done a great job as magistrate, but we wish her the best as she moves into retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy\u2019s first job in Ohio County started in August 1980 when she went to work in the office of former Ohio County Clerk Lin Humphries.<\/p>\n
A year later, Humphries informed her that then Magistrate Jack Rothbart needed an assistant in his office and she encouraged her to apply.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe trained me,\u201d Murphy said of Humphries. \u201cI always felt I was good at my job because she trained me, and she was good at her job. I had her to go to when she was clerk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy got the job with Rothbart, then went on to work for magistrates George Fahey and Steve Hanna over the next two decades.<\/p>\n
In 2004, Hanna was set to retire and Murphy successfully ran for his job.<\/p>\n
She comes from a family in which public service was a strong trait. <\/p>\n
Her father Robert was a retired cop who worked 26 years with the Wheeling Police Department. Her brothers Bob and Larry also are retired from the Wheeling Fire Department, while her sister Suzan worked at the Ye Olde Alpha.<\/p>\n
Murphy, however, said it was her mother Toni who encouraged her to run for magistrate and \u201cwas the force who started the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy was elected on Nov. 4, 2024, while Toni died just days later on Nov. 28.<\/p>\n
Murphy today resides with her sister Suzan.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my family has been saying \u2018Patty, just leave (the magistrate\u2019s office),’\u201d she said. \u201cThey are all retired. But I was like, I\u2019m not ready to go yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murphy noted there was someone else who greatly encouraged her during her early days as magistrate.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The late attorney) Rob McCoid told me, \u2018Patty, you can do so well at this job. You have the experience. You have the intellect,’\u201d she said. \u201cThat gave me the confidence to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for outside interests, Murphy has a penchant for collecting gnomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to love to read,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I can\u2019t with my eye problems.\u201d <\/p>\n
Murphy still likes to do jigsaw puzzles, many of which were given to her by former courthouse secretary Janet Cunningham.<\/p>\n
Murphy and Cunningham are among a group of past female courthouse workers \u2013 \u201cThe Courthouse Cuties\u201d \u2013 who meet each month at local restaurants to stay in touch. Murphy said there can be as many as 30 women attending these events.<\/p>\n
Her advice to her successor is that \u201cyou\u2019re never going to please everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re judging a case, you also know someone is not going to be happy with you depending on how it works out,\u201d she said. \u201cI may not have always made the best decision, but I always tried my best. I also learned from experience, or at least I think I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollow the rules. Read the code, and try to remain calm because it can be trying at times. Be dedicated, and strive to find a work-life balance,\u201d Murphy added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ohio County Magistrate Patty Murphy, center, has announced her retirement effective at the end of January. Here, she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-426921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}