ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 588
(By Senators Wooton, Anderson, Bowman, Buckalew, Deem, Dittmar,
Grubb, Oliverio, Ross, Schoonover, Wagner, White, Wiedebusch and
Yoder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 28, 1996.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article one, chapter
fifty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to courts and their
officers; administrative office of supreme court of appeals;
and duties of director.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article one, chapter fifty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS.
§51-1-17. Administrative office of supreme court of appeals --
Duties of director.
The director shall, when authorized by the supreme court of appeals, be the administrative officer of said court and shall
have charge, under the supervision and direction of the supreme
court of appeals, of:
(a) All administrative matters relating to the offices of
the clerks of the circuit and intermediary courts and of the
offices of justice of the peace, and all other clerical and
administrative personnel of said courts; but nothing contained in
this act shall be construed as affecting the authority of the
courts to appoint their administrative or clerical personnel;
(b) Examining the state of the dockets of the various courts
and securing information as to their needs for assistance, if
any, and the preparation of statistical data and reports of the
business transacted by the courts, including, as an integral part
of the compensation of justices and judges, the development of a
system of reporting by justices and judges as to the actual
amount of time, including travel time, spent by each justice or
judge in the conduct of his official duties in court;
(c) The preparation of a proper budget to secure the
appropriation of moneys for the maintenance, support and
operation of the courts;
(d) The purchase, exchange, transfer and distribution of
equipment and supplies, as may be needful or desirable;
(e) Such other matters as may be assigned to him by the
supreme court of appeals. The clerks of the circuit courts,
intermediate courts and courts of the justices of the peace shall
comply with any and all requests made by the director or his
assistants for information and statistical data bearing on the
state of the dockets of such courts, or such other information as
may reflect the business transacted by them;
(f) Annual report of activities and estimates of
expenditures. -- The director, when required to do so by the
supreme court of appeals, shall submit annually to the court a
report of the activities of the administrative office and of the
state of business of the courts, together with the statistical
data compiled by him, with his recommendations.