Judge Patricia L. West Career History Chief Deputy Attorney General Office of the Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia 2012 -Present Oversee the legal and administrative operations of the Commonwealth's law firm. Manage more than 450 attorneys and staff. Chief intra-governmental liaison to Governor's Office, General Assembly, and all state agencies. Final authority for budget, procurement, office policy, and human resources matters. Circuit Court Judge Virginia Beach Circuit Court, Virginia Beach, Virginia 2000-2012 Presided over civil and criminal matters, from eminent domain to capital murder cases. Cases included both jury and non-jury trials and administrative law appeals. District Court Judge Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court, Virginia Beach, Virginia 1997-2000 Presided over cases involving matters such as child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, child support and custody, and crimes against children and family members, and crimes committed by juveniles. Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Office ofthe Governor, Richmond, Virginia 1996-1997 Member of Governor George Allen's Cabinet. Oversaw 11 state agencies that employed 22,000 workers with a combined annual budget in excess of $1 billion. Agencies included the Virginia State Police, Virginia Department of Corrections, Department of Emergency Services, and Department ofmilitary Affairs. Awarded National Guard's Bronze Star for negotiating the transfer of Fort Pickett from federal control to state control, transferring operations to the Virginia National Guard. Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice Department of Juvenile Justice, Richmond, Virginia 1994-1996 Chief executive officer responsible for the management and administration of the department's 2,300 employees and its $160 million annual budget. Reformed Virginia's juvenile justice system by heading the Governor's Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform. Among other reforms, gave discretion to prosecutors to try juveniles as adults for certain violent crimes. Expanded the number of facilities, ranging from residential boot camps to maximum security juvenile detention centers. 1
Worked with the U.S. Army to start the first Junior ROTC program in the nation located in a juvenile justice facility. Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, Norfolk, Virginia 1993-1994 Responsible for creating, staffmg, and managing a juvenile prosecution team to handle felony cases originating in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, Virginia Beach, Virginia 1990-1993 Prosecuted felony cases originating in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Assistant City Attorney Office of the City Attorney, Virginia Beach, Virginia 1987-1990 Represented the Virginia Beach Department of Social Services in civil cases involving child protective orders, removal orders, termination of parental rights proceedings, administrative appeals, and related legal matters. Prosecuted misdemeanor appeals from General District to Circuit Court and handled worker compensation cases. Law Clerk Court of Appeals,Bristol, Virginia Performed legal research and writing for the Honorable Sam W. Coleman, III Board Memberships 1986-1987 Board of Visitors, Regent University School of Law and Government, 2003- present Advisory Board of Directors, Seton Youth Shelters, 2005 - present Virginia Code Commission, 2010-2012 Criminal Justice Services Board, 2001-2005 Attorney General Mark Earley's Commission on Gangs and Youth Violence, 1998 Attorney General Jerry Kilgore's Advisory Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, 2002 Department of Juvenile Justice, Judicial Liaison Committee, 1998-2008 Former member, Virginia Bar Association's Domestic Relations Section Council Former member, National Institute of Justice's Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Committee Former member, Children's Performance Workshop Advisory Board 2
Teaching Experience Adjunct Professor of Juvenile Law and Family Law 1992-1993 Regent University School of Law and Government, Virginia Beach, Virginia Lecturer- Legal Research, Legal Transactions, Family Law 1988-1993 Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach, Virginia Teaching Assistant- Legal Writing 1985-1986 Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College ofwilliam and Mary, Bar Membership Admitted to Virginia State Bar in 1986. Education Juris Doctorate- May 1986 Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College ofwilliam and Mary Bachelor of Arts (Economics major, English minor)-may 1983 College of William and Mary Research assistant for Professor Len Schifrin, Department of Economics College of William and Mary 3
Judge Patricia L. West Biography Patricia West currently serves as the Chief Deputy Attorney General for Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, II, overseeing the day-to-day legal and administrative operations of the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia. Prior to that, she served as a judge of the Virginia Beach Circuit Court and on the Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. She has also served in an advisory capacity to two previous attorneys general. She was a member of Attorney General Mark Earley's 1998 Commission on Gangs and Youth Violence where Judge West was chairman of the Opportunities for Youth Subcommittee and also served on General Earley's commission investigating child abuse fatality rates in the Hampton Roads area. Under Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, she served on his Advisory Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault as chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee and Legal Services Committee. Governor George Allen appointed Judge West to his cabinet as Virginia's Secretary of Public Safety in 1996. She also served in the Allen administration as Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice and was actively involved in reforming Virginia's juvenile justice system by heading the Governor's Commission on Juvenile Justice Ref01m. Among other reforms, prosecutors gained the discretion to try juveniles as adults for certain violent crimes. Judge West began her career as a law clerk to the Honorable Sam W. Coleman III of the Court of Appeals of Virginia. After her clerkship, she worked as an Assistant City Attorney and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach before being named a Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Norfolk. In 2000, Judge West was honored by Inside Business magazine as one of the "Top 40 Under 40," an award presented to young business and community leaders in the Hampton Roads area who have distinguished themselves through community involvement and professional accomplishments. Judge West's active support for crime victims earned her the Outstanding Service Award from the Virginia Network for Victims and Witnesses of Crime. She was also honored with the YWCA 2005 Woman of Distinction in Government award, and she was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the Virginia National Guard for her work negotiating the transfer of Fort Pickett from federal control to state control, transferring operations to the Virginia National Guard. She subsequently was nominated and invited to attend the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, and the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. From 2003 until moving to Richmond in 2012, Judge West was a member of the James Kent American Inn of Court, a national organization founded to promote legal excellence, civility, professionalism, and ethics in the practice of law.
2 Judge West is a member of Regent University's School of Law and Government Board of Visitors and has served on the Virginia Bar Association's Domestic Relations Section Council. She is actively involved in her church where she has been a member since 1972. For years Judge West taught youth Sunday School and since 2004 has lead an annual mission trip to the Eastern Shore to work with migrant workers and their children. Judge West received her law degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary in 1986, and is a 1983 graduate of the College of William and Mary.