West Virginia Governor Jim Justice says he has received a letter of resignation from Supreme Court Justice Menis E. Ketchum.

The governor's office says the letter indicates Ketchum will retire and resign from the court effective Friday, July 27.

"I have directed my general counsel to provide the necessary documentation to the Judicial Vacancy Commission and other state agencies as may be appropriate to fill this vacancy created by Justice Ketchum’s resignation,” Gov. Justice stated in a press release Wednesday.

Justice said he sent a letter in return to Justice Ketchum, acknowledging his resignation and retirement. The governor also thanked the justice on behalf of the people of West Virginia for his public service.

While the statement gives no reason for Ketchum's retirement, the decision comes in the midst of impeachment proceedings by West Virginia legislators against Justice Allen Loughry, who was federally indicted in June for fraud.

Justice Allen Loughry pleaded not guilty in federal court last month, but he was suspended from the court over allegations he repeatedly lied about using his office for personal gain.

However, the investigation being carried out by the West Virginia Judiciary Committee has authority to look into all five Supreme Court justices for evidence of impeachable offenses.

Those proceedings resume on Thursday.

Loughry is charged with 16 counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, one count of witness tampering and three counts of making false statements to a federal agent. The indictment says his fraud scheme began in 2013, shortly after he was elected.

If convicted on all counts, Loughry faces a possible sentence of up to 395 years and a fine of up to $5.5 million.

He was removed as chief justice in February after the justices learned that he had kept the federal subpoena secret.

As far as Ketchum, a legislative audit in April found he ignored mandatory reporting guidelines for personal use of state-owned vehicles.

The audit report said the use of state-owned vehicles and mileage reimbursements should have been reported as taxable fringe benefits on Ketchum's federal W-2 forms but were not. The report also said Ketchum used a state vehicle to drive to Virginia for personal golf trips and charged $203 in fuel purchases to the state.

The report said Ketchum repaid the state $1,664 for incorrect travel reimbursements. In a statement attached to the report, Ketchum said he had planned to pay any taxes due for use of the state car when he receives amended W-2s.

He was elected to a 12-year term in 2008.

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The Associated Press contributed to this article.