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Armstead was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2018 by then-Gov. Jim Justice to fill a vacancy by the retirement of Justice Menis Ketchum. Armstead won a special election later that year to serve the remainder of Ketchum's term. Ketchum later was sentenced in federal court to probation on a felony fraud count related to his personal use of a state vehicle and gas fuel card.

Armstead then was elected to a full 12-year term on the court in 2020. He served as the court's rotating chief justice in 2020 and 2024.

In a statement, Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Armstead was ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œa good and decent man who always tried to set the right ethical tone in all of his actions.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

"His dedication to the rule of law and our stateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s heritage was felt in all of his opinions and decisions, and his legacy will be remembered for a long time," Morrisey said in the statement.

Born in Charleston, Armstead graduated from the University of Charleston and earned a law degree from West Virginia University. He served on the staffs of U.S. District Judge David Faber and Govs. Arch A. Moore Jr. and Cecil Underwood. Underwood appointed Armstead to a vacant seat on the House of Delegates in 1998 and he was elected later that year. He was named House speaker in 2015.

Republican Delegate Roger Hanshaw replaced Armstead as House speaker and remains in the position.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWest Virginia lost a very special person today, and I lost another wonderful friend,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Hanshaw said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI will miss the wise counsel he often gave me in times of tough decisions.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

When he ran for the 12-year Supreme Court seat in 2020, Armstead said the court had become more open and transparent following a 2018 impeachment scandal and that restoring confidence in the court among residents was a priority.

House lawmakers impeached several justices over questions involving more than $3 million in renovations to the justicesÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ offices ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” included one justiceÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s $32,000 blue suede couch ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥”and expanded to broader accusations of corruption, incompetence and neglect of duty. The scandal prompted an extraordinary move by one branch of government to essentially fire another.

But five acting justices later derailed the impeachment trials. In 2019 the U.S. Supreme Court left that decision in place.

Armstead had recused himself from the 2018 House debate over the impeachment articles because he had expressed interest in the court, whose elections became nonpartisan in 2016.

Last year Armstead appointed an advisory committee to propose revisions to the state Code of Judicial Conduct. The committee will issue its recommendations to the Supreme Court for review later this year.

Current Chief Justice Bill Wooton said Armstead's colleagues "looked to TimÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s example on thorny ethical issues. Likewise, his knowledge of state finances has been an invaluable resource to the West Virginia judicial system.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� 

Cabell County Commissioner Kelli Sobonya said in a written statement, "Tim was truly one of a kind, and the mark he left on our state will endure for generations."

Sobonya and Armstead were friends and former legislative colleagues. Sobonya said she first came to know Armstead in the 1980s, when he was a young member of the House of Delegates and she served as a lobbyist for the West Virginia Christian Coalition and West Virginians for Life, she said. The two later served alongside each other for 12 years as minority members of the West Virginia House of Delegates beginning in 2003.

"His service to the state he loved continued as he rose to become a Justice of our WV Supreme Court," Sobonya said. 

Armstead is survived by his wife, Anna, their daughter, Katie, and her husband Aaron Ferrari, a grandson and granddaughter.