Judge Hoke is a native of Lincoln County, where he was educated and was graduated from Guyan Valley High School in 1970. In 1974 he received his bachelor’s degree from Concord College. He received his master’s degree from Marshall University in 1976, followed by his law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1982.

Judge Hoke was first elected in 1988 as the Lincoln County prosecuting attorney, having previously been the assistant prosecutor and having been appointed prosecutor in 1987 and 1988. Prior to that appointment, Judge Hoke served as legal counsel to the West Virginia Public Service Commission from 1982 to 1987 and also served as Lincoln County administrator from 1977 to 1979, prior to entering the College of Law in 1979.

In 1992 Judge Hoke was elected to the bench in the Boone and Lincoln County circuit. He was re-elected in 2000, 2008, and 2016. He currently serves as Chief Judge of the Twenty-Fifth Judicial Circuit. He also is one of seven judges on the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel, which processes complex litigation for the entire state.

Judge Hoke and his wife, Jann, have been married for twenty-five years and have three daughters.