H. B. 4526


(By Delegates Love, Fragale, Heck, Higgins, Stewart,

Walters and Willison)


(Originating in the Committee on Government Organization)


[February 17, 1994]



A BILL to amend and reenact section one-g, article five, chapter twenty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to continuation of the office of judges of workers' compensation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section one-g, article five, chapter twenty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§ 23-5-1g. Continuation of office of administrative law judges; powers of chief administrative law judge and said office.

(a) There is hereby created continued within the workers' compensation appeal board the workers' compensation office of administrative law judges which shall be referred to as the office of judges. The office of judges shall be under the supervision of a chief administrative law judge who shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(b) The chief administrative law judge shall be a person who has been admitted to the practice of law in this state and shall also have had at least four years of experience as an attorney. The chief administrative law judge's salary shall be set by the appeal board created in section two of this article. Said salary shall be within the salary range for comparable chief administrative law judges as determined by the state personnel board created by section six, article six of chapter twenty-nine of this code. The chief administrative law judge may only be removed by the appeal board and shall not be removed except for official misconduct, incompetence, neglect of duty, gross immorality, or malfeasance and then only after he or she has been presented in writing with the reasons for his or her removal and then only in the manner prescribed in article six-a of chapter twenty-nine of this code. No other provision of this code purporting to limit the term of office of any appointed official or employee or affecting the removal of any appointed official or employee shall be applicable to the chief administrative law judge.
(c) By and with the consent of the commissioner, the chief administrative law judge shall employ such additional administrative law judges and other personnel as are necessary for the proper conduct of a system of administrative review of orders issued by the commissioner which orders have been objected to by a party, and all such employees shall be in the classified service of the state. Qualifications, compensation and personnel practice relating to the employees of the office of judges, other than the chief administrative law judge, shall be governed by the provisions of the statutes, rules and regulations of the classified service pursuant to article six, chapter twenty-nine of this code. All such additional administrative law judges shall be persons who have been admitted to the practice of law in this state and shall also have had at least two years of experience as an attorney. The chief administrative law judge shall supervise the other administrative law judges and other personnel which collectively shall be referred to in this chapter as the office of judges.
(d) The administrative expense of the office of judges shall be included by the appeal board in its annual budget when it submits that budget to the commissioner pursuant to section two of this article.
(e) With the advice and consent of the commissioner, on or before the first day of May, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, the appeal board shall promulgate rules of practice and procedure for the hearing and determination of all objections to findings or orders of the commissioner pursuant to section one of this article and for the settlement of claims pursuant to section one-f of this article. Such rules of practice and procedure shall be promulgated in accordance with the provisions of article three of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. The appeal board shall not have the power to promulgate legislative rules as that phrase is defined in article three of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(f) On and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, the chief administrative law judge shall have the power, which shall be delegated by the appeal board, to hear and determine all disputed claims in accordance with the provisions of this article, establish a procedure for the hearing of disputed claims, take oaths, examine witnesses, issue subpoenas, establish the amount of witness fees, keep such records and make such reports as are necessary for disputed claims, review and approve agreements to compromise and settle claims involving permanent partial disability awards permitted by the provisions of section one-f, article five of this chapter, and exercise such additional powers, including the delegation of such powers to administrative law judges or hearing examiners as may be necessary for the proper conduct of a system of administrative review of disputed claims.
(g) Pursuant to the provisions of chapter four, article ten of this code, the office of judges shall continue to exist until the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, to allow for the completion of a preliminary performance review by the joint committee on government operations.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to continue the Office of Judges of Workers' Compensation until July 1, 1996, to allow for the completion of a preliminary performance review by the Joint Committee on Government Operations, pursuant to West Virginia's Sunset Law.