Justice Elliott E. Maynard , a lifelong West Virginia resident, was born in Williamson in Mingo County, West Virginia. He graduated from Belfry High School in 1960. He earned his B.S. from Florida Southern College in 1967 and his J.D. from West Virginia University in 1974. He joined the United States Air Force in 1961, and was attached to a reconnaissance group during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Thereafter, he was assigned to the 306th Bomb Wing in the Strategic Air Command, and was honorably released in 1966. From 1968 to 1970 he was Managing Director of the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce. He was engaged in the private practice of law in Williamson from 1974 to 1981. In 1976, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Mingo County and was re-elected in 1980. In 1981 Governor John D. Rockefeller, IV, appointed him as Judge of the Thirtieth Judicial Circuit. He was twice elected judge of that circuit. He has been involved for over thirty years with the Boy Scouts of America and was District Chairman of the Mingo-Pike District and District Chairman of the Chief Cornstalk District. He has served on the Board of the Buckskin Council and received the Silver Beaver Award, the highest volunteer award in scouting. Justice Maynard is a member of the American Judges Association, the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, the West Virginia Bar Association, a former Member of National District Attorneys Association, and a member of the Charleston Rotary Club and other fraternal organizations. In November 1996, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals. He served as chief justice in 2000 and 2004.