HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 22
(By Delegates Doyle and Longstreth)
[Introduced March 16, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Constitutional Revision then the
Judiciary.]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West
Virginia, amending article IX thereof, by adding thereto a new
section, designated section fourteen, relating to county
commission elections; numbering and designating such proposed
amendment; and providing a summarized statement of the purpose
of such proposed amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of
the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment
to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to
the voters of the state at the next general election to be held in
the year 2010, which proposed amendment is that article IX thereof
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated fourteen, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE IX. COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
§14. Reformation of county commission elections.
Beginning in the year 2012, any resident of a county that is
a registered voter may run for any seat on the county commission
that is open for election, and the candidate that receives the most
votes will hold that seat. At any time after the passage of this
constitutional amendment, the residents of a county may, if a
county commission receives a petition signed by ten percent of the
registered voters of the county requesting an alternative election
process for county commissioners, vote at the next election on a
referendum to elect a resident of the county that is a registered
voter in his or her magisterial district only for each magisterial
district, so that the county commission is comprised of one
representative for each magisterial district.
The residents of a county may, if a county commission receives
a petition signed by ten percent of the registered voters of the
county requesting an alternative term of office for county
commissioners, elect to decide whether the term of office for
county commissioner is two years, four years or six years.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of
article eleven, chapter three of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, such proposed amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment
No. 1" and designated as the "Reformation of County Commission
Elections Amendment" and the purpose of the proposed amendment is
summarized as follows: "To allow residents of a county to determine how county commissioners are elected, and the number of
years for a county commission term."
NOTE: The purpose of this resolution is to amend the State
Constitution to allow residents of a county to determine how county
commissioners are elected, and the number of years for a term on
the county commission.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.