Judge Debra McLaughlin was re-elected to the bench in the Twenty-Seventh Judicial Circuit (Berkeley and Morgan Counties) in 2024. She had been appointed to the same seat in August 2017 and served through May 2018. She was re-appointed in March 2019 and elected in May 2020. 

Since 1999, Judge McLaughlin has been a resident of West Virginia, where she practiced law and raised a family. Judge McLaughlin served 15 years as the Morgan County Prosecuting Attorney prior to her appointment to the circuit court.

In 1990, Judge McLaughlin earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology with a concentration in criminal justice from St. Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, where she was an Honors Program graduate. She earned her law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1993. 

Judge McLaughlin began her legal practice at the law firm of Bochetto & Lentz (Philadelphia, Pa.) and later at Katherman & Heim (York, Pa.). In 1999, she joined the law firm of Harmison & Savasten in Berkeley Springs, WV. She had a small litigation practice while working as a part-time Assistant Prosecutor for Morgan County.

Judge McLaughlin has been an active Rotarian in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties since 2017. She currently serves on the Finance Counsel of St. Peters Catholic Church in Maryland. She misses the time she served as a coach and league president for the Morgan County Soccer League. She is proud of the time she was able to serve on the Court Appointed Special Advocates’ Board of Directors. As the Morgan County Prosecutor, Judge McLaughlin was part of a team that started Teen Court at Berkeley Springs High School, which has been a model program for neighboring counties.

Judge Debra McLaughlin has been married to her husband, Kevin, for more than 30 years, and both are very proud of their three adult children.