Michael Honaker (born November 11, 1965) is an American politician who served as a member of the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature in West Virginia. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular se ...

from the 46th district. Appointed by Governor

Jim Justice James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from West Virginia. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2017 to 2025 as the 36th gover ...

in December 2021, he assumed office on January 4, 2022. On August 30, 2023, Honaker resigned from the House of Delegates after his appointment as the inspector general of the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security.

Early life and education

Honaker was born in

Union, West Virginia Union is a town in Monroe County, West Virginia, United States. Union’s population is 427 as of 2020. It is the county seat of Monroe County. History Monroe County was established by an act of the Assembly of Virginia on January 14, 1799, occ ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from

Bluefield College Bluefield University is a private Baptist university in Bluefield, Virginia. It offers 22 majors and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The campus is about from the state line between Virginia and West Virgini ...

Career

From 1984 to 1988, Honaker served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, where he was assigned to the

III Marine Expeditionary Force III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and ...

. He joined the

Virginia State Police The Virginia State Police, officially the Virginia Department of State Police, conceived in 1919 and established in 1932, is the state police force for the U.S. state of Virginia. The agency originated out of the Virginia Department of Motor Ve ...

in 1989, serving as a trooper until 1995, a field sergeant until 2001, special agent in charge of criminal investigations, and field commander until 2017. He also worked as an investigator for a private intelligence company. Since 2018, he has served as director of homeland security and emergency management for

Greenbrier County, West Virginia Greenbrier County () is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,977. Its county seat is Lewisburg. The county was formed in 1778 from Botetourt and Montgomery Counties in Virginia. History P ...

. Honaker was appointed to the

in December 2021, succeeding Barry Bruce. In 2023, he was appointed as inspector general of the state Department of Homeland Security.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honaker, Michael Living people People from Union, West Virginia People from Monroe County, West Virginia Bluefield University alumni Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates American law enforcement officials 1965 births 21st-century members of the West Virginia Legislature