H. B. 2635
(By Delegates Campbell and Browning)
[Introduced March 19, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article three, chapter
fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing the
contribution of counties to the magistrate court fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article three, chapter fifty of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. COSTS, FINES AND RECORDS.
§50-3-4. Disposition of costs; magistrate court fund.
Except for the funds specified in section four-a, all costs
collected in magistrate courts in a civil or criminal proceeding
shall be submitted on or before the tenth day of the month
following the month of their collection to the magistrate court
clerk or, if there is no magistrate court clerk, to the clerk of
the circuit court along with such information as may be required
by the rules of the supreme court and by the rules of the chiefinspector of public offices. Such clerk shall pay costs into the
special county fund hereafter created during each fiscal year
until there shall have been paid a sum equal to twelve thousand
five hundred dollars multiplied by the number of magistrates
authorized for such county. All costs collected in excess of
such sum during a fiscal year shall be paid to the state. All
costs and fees collected by magistrates on or after the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred seventy-six, shall be paid
into said special county fund hereinafter created.
There is hereby created in each county a special county fund
designated as the magistrate court fund. No moneys shall be
appropriated from the fund except for the purposes provided for
in this section. Any money remaining in the magistrate court
fund on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-nine, and on the thirtieth day of June of each year
thereafter, shall be paid to the state. In order to provide a
procedure for distribution of such excess moneys as are paid to
the state, there is hereby created in the state treasurer's
office a special fund known as the "magistrate court excess
fund." Beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, and in each July thereafter, the state
treasurer shall distribute all moneys collected in this fund to
the counties. To determine the amount distributed to each
county, the moneys in the excess fund shall be divided by the
total number of magistrates in the state, and this divided amount
shall be multiplied by the number of magistrates serving in eachcounty. These moneys returned to the counties shall be deposited
in the special county fund designated as the magistrate court
fund.
A county may, in accordance with the supervisory rules of
the supreme court of appeals, appropriate and spend from such
fund such sums as shall be necessary to defray the expenses of
providing services to magistrate courts.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase each county's
available funds for support of magistrate courts by
redistributing, beginning in 1993, the excess collections now
remitted to the state.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.