State of West Virginia ex rel. West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission v. The Honorable Jason A. Cuomo, Judge of the Circuit Court of Ohio County, and Heather B., Legal Guardian of A.B.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia granted the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission’s petition for a writ of prohibition and dissolved a preliminary injunction entered by the Circuit Court of Ohio County. The court held that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to review the WVSSAC’s as-applied waiver decision, while concluding that facial constitutional challenges to WVSSAC rules may be reviewed. Applying rational-basis review, the court upheld the Residence-Transfer Rule against arbitrary-and-capricious and equal-protection challenges.

Holdings

1. The Court had jurisdiction to address the technically moot challenge because the issue involved questions of great public interest and was likely to recur while evading appellate review during the limited 365-day period.
2. The circuit court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate an as-applied challenge to the WVSSAC's application of its rules, including its denial of A.B.'s waiver.
3. The Residence-Transfer Rule, W. Va. C.S.R. § 127-2-7.2.a (2021), is not a violation of equal protection.
4. The Residence-Transfer Rule is not arbitrary and capricious.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Supreme Court could decide the Residence-Transfer Rule challenge even though A.B.'s 365-day period of ineligibility had expired.
2. Whether the circuit court had subject-matter jurisdiction to review the WVSSAC's as-applied application of its Waiver Rule.
3. Whether the Residence-Transfer Rule was facially unconstitutional under the equal-protection principles of the West Virginia Constitution.
4. Whether the Residence-Transfer Rule was arbitrary and capricious.

Disposition

writ_granted