Brandon Steele replaced as House Judiciary Chairman
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV
Delegate Brandon Steele, Republican from Raleigh County, was replaced as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee yesterday by Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.
“After recent conversation with Delegate Brandon Steele and in recognition of his need to spend more time focused on matters outside the Capitol building, I’m pleased to name Delegate JB Akers (R, Kanawha) as our Standing Judiciary Committee Chairman for the 87th Legislature,” Hanshaw said in a release.
Steele was named Chair on January 7 by Hanshaw. The following day, news broke that Steele was the subject of two 911 calls made by his family on December 23. According to the incident report, Steele did not face any charges and the reason for the call was an “intoxicated person.”
On January 17, RealWV obtained audio of the calls from the Raleigh Emergency Operations Center via a Freedom of Information Act request.
The first 911 call was brief, however the second call lasted for over 20 minutes.
In the second call, the dispatcher asked the caller, “Are you currently safe?”
“I don’t know,” she replied.
“Does he (Steele) have any access to weapons?”
“Oh, he’s surrounded by them right now, yeah,” she says. “Very dangerous ones. He (inaudible) them off the wall in front of the kids and they’re terrified now.”
The call ended before law enforcement arrived, though a subsequent report described the situation. No charges were filed and Steele maintains in public statements that he was protecting his home from someone who drove by his house in a suspicious manner.
RealWV also filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Raleigh County Sheriff for bodycam footage from the officer’s visit. The request was denied on three counts–that the information would constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy, that the information is for internal use by law enforcement, and that the information is exempt from disclosure by statute.
According to Speaker Hanshaw, Delegate Akers will move from Vice Chair to Chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee. Republican Delegate Jordan Maynor, also of Raleigh County, will become Vice Chair.
Steele was not sworn in with other House members on January 7. He did not immediately return a request for comment on the future of his legislative service. Stay tuned to RealWV for updates.
