Disbarment process begins for Thornsbury

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Judicial Disciplinary Counsel filed a motion at the state Supreme Court late Wednesday accepting the disbarment of convicted former Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury.

Thornsbury resigned as circuit judge Wednesday morning and then a few hours later admitted that he violated a man’s constitutional rights. He’ll be sentenced in federal court in January.

The Judicial Disciplinary Counsel had sought to have Thornbury lose his law license when he was first indicted in August. The counsel said that’s now a moot point since Thornsbury has agreed to disbarment and to never seek public office again.

Thornsbury, 57, graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1980. He was licensed to practice in West Virginia later that year. He became the circuit judge of Mingo County in Jan. 1997.