Senate Bill No. 591
(By Senators Kessler, Green, Sypolt, Barnes, Minard,
Laird, Jenkins, Snyder, Williams and Plymale)
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[Introduced March 16, 2009; referred to the Committee the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §50-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the election of magistrates
generally; providing that all magistrates will be elected by
divisions; and providing that all magistrates will be elected
at large from the entire county he or she serves.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §50-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. COURTS AND OFFICERS.
§50-1-1. Magistrate court created.
(a) There is hereby created in each county of
this the state
a magistrate court
with such numbers consisting of the number of
magistrates for each court
as are hereafter provided that is
authorized by the provisions of this article. There shall be
elected by the voters of each county, at the general election to be
held in the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-six, and in
every fourth year thereafter, such number of magistrates as is provided in section two of this article. The filing fee for the
office of magistrate shall be one percent of the annual salary.
Each magistrate is elected by the voters of the county in which he
or she will serve. The term of
magistrates magistrate shall be for
four years and shall begin on January 1, of the year following the
year of election.
The filing fee for the office of magistrate is
one percent of the annual salary.
(b) Beginning with the primary and general elections to be
conducted in 2012, in every county there shall be, for election
purposes, numbered divisions corresponding to the number of
magistrates in each county. Each magistrate shall be elected at
large from the entire county. In each numbered division of the
county, the candidates for nomination or election shall be voted
upon and the votes cast for the candidates in each division shall
be tallied separately from the votes cast for candidates in other
numbered divisions within the county. The candidate receiving the
highest number of the votes cast within a numbered division shall
be either nominated or elected, whatever the case may be.
(c) In counties where voting machines or electronic voting
systems are used, the procedures of section eleven, article four,
chapter three and section twelve, article four-a of said chapter
three of this code shall apply respectively to the election of
magistrates in the same manner as they apply to the election of
members of the House of Delegates.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section seven, article five,
chapter three of this code, for purposes of the primary election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred seventy- six, the
last day for filing certificates of candidacy for the office of
magistrate shall be extended to the twenty-seventh day of February
of that year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that magistrates
of a county run for election in numbered divisions similar to the
election of circuit judges.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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