Magistrate McWhorter is a lifelong resident of Lawrence County.  After graduating from Chesapeake High School in 1978, he continued his education at Georgetown University in Kentucky, before transferring and earning his undergraduate degree from Eastern Kentucky University in 1982.

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After college, Magistrate McWhorter returned to Lawrence County and served as a Deputy Sheriff until 1984, at which time he decided to pursue a career as an attorney and enrolled in law school at the University of Dayton.

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Magistrate McWhorter earned his Juris Doctor in 1987 and established a private law practice in Lawrence County that same year.  He left private practice in 2009 when he accepted the position to serve as Magistrate for the Common Pleas Court’s General Division.

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Magistrate McWhorter is admitted to practice in the state Courts of Ohio and the Federal Courts within the Southern District.  He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and member, and former president, of the Lawrence County Bar Association, as well as a member of the Lawrence County Law Library Board.  In addition to his duties as Magistrate of the General Division, he also serves as the Magistrate for Ironton Municipal Court and the Villages of Chesapeake and South Point.