SB 740 Text

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Senate Bill No. 740
(By Senator Unger)
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[Introduced February 18, 2008; referred to the Committee on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to reform the county commission of Berkeley County under the provisions of section thirteen, article IX of the Constitution of West Virginia.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
BERKELEY COUNTY COMMISSION.
§1.

Legislative findings.

The Legislature finds that, the county commission of the County of Berkeley has requested the reformation of the county commission of the County of Berkeley, so as to increase the number of commissioners from three to five.
The Legislature further finds that Berkeley County has experienced growth which has caused the business before the commission to dramatically increased.
§2. Election of county commission members; terms of office.

(a) At the primary election to be held in the year two thousand ten, there shall be nominated three members of the county commission, and culminating in election of the three new commissioners at the general election scheduled for the first Tuesday in November, two thousand ten.
(b) Two of the newly elected members shall be those members of the commission whose terms will not have ended by the first day of January, two thousand eleven. The other three members shall be elected for staggered terms of two, four and six years respectively. The terms of the newly elected members being decided by designating the six-year term to the winner who received the greatest number of votes; the four-year term to the winner who received the second greatest number of votes and the two-year term to the winner who received the third greatest number of votes. Thereafter, each elected member serves a six-year term.
(c) No two members of the commission shall be from the same magisterial district and all commissioners shall be elected from the county at large.
(d) The new commission shall be effective and the elected members of the commission shall take office on the first day of January, two thousand eleven.
(e) The newly elected county commission has the same powers, duties and responsibilities of a county commission as provided in the Constitution and general laws of this state, and a majority of the elected members of the commission constitute a quorum.
§3. Submission to voters of question of reformation of the county commission; publication.

(a) At the May, two thousand eight primary election held in the County of Berkeley the question of the reformation of the county commission as provided in this act shall be submitted to the voters of Berkeley County voting at the election, on a separate ballot furnished by the county commission, in the following form:
? "For increasing the county commission to five members.
? "Against increasing the county commission to five members."
(b) Notice of the election on the question shall be given by publication of this act in each weekly or daily newspaper as a Class II-O legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of the code, in the county at least once in each week for two successive weeks immediately preceding the election.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reform the county commission of Berkeley County by increasing the number of members from three to five and, approving such reformation by the assent of a majority of the voters of such county voting at an election, all pursuant to the provisions of section thirteen , article IX of the Constitution of West Virginia.

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