"I AM COMMITTED TO USING MY EXPERIENCE AND LEGAL KNOWLEDGE IN APPLYING THE LAW
TO ENSURE THAT JUSTICE IS DONE IN EVERY CASE THAT COMES BEFORE ME"

Joe has practiced law in Harrison County for 29 years. For 12 of those years, from 2003 to 2015, he served as Harrison County’s elected Prosecuting Attorney. During that time, he, and the great staff he assembled, made the Prosecutor’s Office the best in the State of West Virginia. Joe sought justice, fairly and evenly, for the citizens of Harrison County. He also served as general counsel to the Harrison County Commission resulting in a substantial savings in excess of $100,000.00 per year for the taxpayers. Joe is the most experienced candidate for the position of Circuit Court Judge for Harrison County, Division 2. For the past 29 years, he has personally handled every type of case to which a Circuit Court Judge would ever be assigned to manage and make decisions on. The decisions a Judge makes impact the lives of all Harrison County’s citizens. His record as a Prosecutor is clear. His philosophy was to be fair, but tough on crime and judicious in applying the law. He was ever mindful of the need to protect the most defenseless, especially children and the elderly. Joe confronted the influx of deadly drugs in our communities and the crime that came with it. Joe’s record speaks for itself.

His qualifications are real and not just talk. He is the only Candidate for Circuit Court Judge, Division 2 who:

• Was a committed Law and Order Prosecuting Attorney (12 Years)
• Presented cases to the Harrison County Grand Jury (36 times)
• Was counsel for WVDHHR in Child Abuse & Neglect cases (12 Years)
• Served as Police Civil Service Commissioner (5 Years)
• Served as Firefighter Civil Service Commissioner (5 Years)
• Caused the deportation of illegal aliens who were convicted of crime
• Prosecuted numerous homicide cases including a quadruple homicide
• Tried serious criminal and homicide cases to juries in numerous counties
• Achieved exonerations for clients wrongfully accused of murder
• Achieved exonerations for clients wrongfully accused of negligent homicide
• Achieved success on Appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court
• Served as counsel on mass tort/class action cases (Dupont Water – Opioid)
• Helped draft laws providing harsher penalties for crimes against Seniors
• Litigated thousands of cases in state and federal courts for 29 years
• Served as City Attorney for The Cities of Shinnston and Stonewood
• Served as Town Attorney for the Towns of Lumberport and Lost Creek
• Established two successful law firms and a successful small business
• Served on advisory board to U.S. Circuit Court Judge Irene M. Keeley on selection of the U.S. Magistrate for the Northern District of West Virginia
• Served as General Counsel to the Harrison County Commission; Sheriff; County Clerk; Circuit Clerk; and, Assessor
• Served as President of the Harrison County Community Corrections Board
• Served on the Harrison County Child Abuse Task Force
• Served on the Control Board for the Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force
• Served as trial Instructor, American Legion Mountaineer Boys State
• Served as a Board Member and Coach for Jerry West Basketball League
• Spent substantially more Courtroom time before Juries and Judges litigating cases than the other two candidates combined

Joe is running for Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Division 2, to continue the tradition of quality, learned, fair, and informed Harrison County Judges under which he has been fortunate enough to practice over the past three decades. Joe has been extremely fortunate to have practiced under many excellent Circuit Court, Federal District Court, and Family Court Judges around the State of West Virginia. But he has always considered the Harrison County Judges under which he has practiced to be second to none. Circuit Court Judges Dan McCarthy; Thomas A. Bedell; John Lewis Marks, Jr.; James A. Matish; and, Christopher J. McCarthy, as well as Family Court Judges Cornelia Reep; Lori Betler Jackson; and, Peter J. Conley have been a great influence on Joe regarding the degree to which a Judge must be prepared and informed on the law and the facts; have a good judicial temperament; and, be courteous and respectful to all parties and their lawyers in any matter coming before them.

Joe was born and raised in Clarksburg, West Virginia, the eldest of five children of Joe and Martha Wolfe Shaffer. His ancestors legally immigrated to the area from Ireland, Poland, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia. They worked hard to provide their families better lives in the United States. That work ethic has always been a part of Joe’s makeup and it has enabled him to overcome many obstacles in order to succeed in all areas of his life.

Joe graduated from Notre Dame High School where he excelled academically and in basketball, as well as community service. He worked while in college commuting to Fairmont State College earning a degree in Business and Economics with a minor in psychology. He later studied in the Masters in Business Program at West Virginia University.

After achieving his undergraduate degree, with a desire to go into business and about $7,000.00 he had saved from working as a down payment, Joe successfully obtained a Small Business Loan in order to open a convenience store in Clarksburg. Within a few years, he opened two additional convenience stores. Shortly before opening his first store, Joe married his wife, Suzanne, who had just graduated college with a degree in elementary education and was beginning her teaching career.

A year after they married, Joe and Suzanne had their first daughter, Alexandra Lynn, who was born prematurely and passed away shortly after her birth. She is their little star in heaven. A few years later, their daughter, Emily, was born. Then a few years after that, their daughter Hannah came along. Emily is a professional actor in New York City where she resides with her husband, Vance, and their precious pup, Margot. Hannah resides in Philadelphia with her sweet doggie, Winnie, and is a senior allocator at the corporate office of URBN.