West Virginia Racing Commission Pays Big Bucks for Appeals

The West Virginia Racing Commission says appeals hearings for small fines against racetrack personnel are costing the commission thousands of dollars apiece.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports racing commissioners discussed Tuesday that each appeal of track judges’ or stewards’ fines for minor infractions requires the commission to retain a hearing examiner, a court reporter, to pay for travel costs, and often the cost of the out-of-town meeting space to hold the hearing.

The commission also has to pay $140 an hour for Deputy Attorney General Kelli Talbott to represent the commission at hearings.

In one case that commissioners discussed, a trainer at Charles Town Raves was fined $500 for an altercation at the track. Costs for his appeal hearing topped $15,000.

Joe Moore, the commission’s executive director, called some of the appeals “frivolous.”