Judge Thompson was born in Charleston and raised on Lick Creek near Danville. He graduated Salutatorian from Scott High School in 1988. He has a 1992 degree in civil engineering from West Virginia University and graduated from West Virginia University College of Law in 1995.
He was an engineer for American Electric Power in Columbus, Ohio, in 1992; Vice President of Danville Lumber Company from 1992 to 2007; and President of Madison Health Care, Inc., from 1998-2007.
He was an attorney for Cook and Cook in Madison from 1995 to 2007and a Mental Hygiene Commissioner for Boone County from 2003 to 2007.
Then-Governor Joe Manchin III appointed him to the bench in the Twenty-Fifth Judicial Circuit (Boone and Lincoln Counties) in 2007. Judge Thompson was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2016.
Judge Thompson has been appointed to be a temporary Justice on the Supreme Court to hear cases in which as Justice was recused.
Judge Thompson has been recognized for his work with drug courts. His work has been profiled by the NBC Nightly News, HBO Vice, and several documentary films. Judge Thompson has received an Innovation Now Award from the Addiction Policy Forum and a Criminal Scholarship award from the West Virginia Public Defenders. Judge Thompson was also instrumental in getting Family Treatment Courts established in West Virginia. He has also been recognized by the White House for his work with drug courts.
Judge Thompson has handled numerous high-profile cases, which included the civil litigation involving the Upper Big Branch Disaster and the West Virginia pharmaceutical litigation, which was featured in a Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles in the Charleston Gazette.
He is a member of the Madison United Methodist Church and is actively involved in coaching youth sports for both boys and girls. He and his wife, Keri Dawn, have four children, Grace, a sophomore at West Virginia University, Will, a junior at Scott High School, Claire, a freshman at Scott High School and Sophia, a fourth grader at Madison Elementary School