COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
For
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 6
(By Senators Schoonover, Love, Anderson, Boley,
Sharpe, Helmick and Ross)
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[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization;
reported February 28, 1996.]
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Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West
Virginia, amending sections one, four and sixteen, article
seven thereof; and further amending said article by adding
thereto a new section, designated section five-a, all relating
to the executive department; including within the executive
department the office of lieutenant governor; establishing the
term of office of governor as six years and restricting
eligibility therefor to a single term; establishing the term
of office of lieutenant governor as two years, to coincide
with his or her term as Senate president; providing that the
person elected governor in the general election of one
thousand nine hundred ninety-six serve a four-year term and
may not be prevented from serving a subsequent term on the basis of having previously served a term as governor;
providing that the president of the Senate is the lieutenant
governor of the state of West Virginia; office of lieutenant
governor to constitute an office separate and distinct from
that of governor and Senate president; succession to the
office of governor by lieutenant governor in cases of vacancy
resulting from the death, conviction, impeachment, failure to
qualify or resignation of the governor; same, lieutenant
governor may continue as Senate president and as governor
until the expiration of the unexpired term of office for
governor or the expiration of his or her term as Senate
president, whichever occurs first; lieutenant governor to act
as governor in cases of governor's mental or physical
disability until disability is removed or unexpired term ends;
procedure for choosing a governor to complete an unexpired
term when no otherwise eligible person who is able to act as
governor is designated by law to succeed to that office;
numbering and designating such proposed amendment; and
providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such
proposed amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of
the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment
to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to the voters of the State at the next general election to be held in
the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, which proposed
amendment is that sections one, four and sixteen, article seven
thereof be amended; and that said article be further amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated section five-a, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE VII. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
§1. Executive department.
The executive department shall consist consists of a governor,
lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer,
commissioner of agriculture and attorney general, who shall be is
ex officio reporter of the court of appeals. Their terms of office
shall be four years, and The term of office of the governor is six
years. Except for the lieutenant governor, the terms of office for
all other officers of the executive department are four years. The
term of office of lieutenant governor is two years and commences on
the first day of December next succeeding his or her election as
president of the Senate. The terms of office of all other officers
of the executive department shall commence on the first Monday
after the second Wednesday of January next after their election.
They Each officer of the executive department shall reside at the
seat of government during their terms his or her term of office,
keep there the public records, books and papers pertaining to their
respective offices, and shall perform such their duties as may be the same are prescribed by law.
§4. Eligibility.
None of the executive officers mentioned in this article shall
may hold any other office during the term of his or her service. A
person who has been elected or who has served as governor during
all or any part of two consecutive terms shall be ineligible for
the office of governor during any part of the term immediately
following the second of the two consecutive terms any term is
ineligible to again hold the office of governor: Provided, That
the person holding who is elected to the office of governor when
this section is ratified at the general election of one thousand
nine hundred ninety-six shall serve for a term of four years and
may not be prevented from holding the office of governor during the
term immediately a term following the term that he or she is then
serving on the ground that he or she has previously served a term
as governor.
§5a. Lieutenant governor.
The president of the Senate is in all cases the lieutenant
governor of the State and, as such, is entitled to exercise the
powers and duties appertaining to that office and to enjoy and use
the title "Lieutenant Governor of the State of West Virginia." The
office of lieutenant governor constitutes an office separate and distinct from that of either governor or Senate president. Upon
his or her succession to the office of governor, as provided in
section sixteen of this article, the lieutenant governor may
continue to hold the offices of Senate president and lieutenant
governor until the expiration of the unexpired term of office of
governor or the expiration of his or her term as Senate president,
whichever occurs first. In the event that the lieutenant
governor's term as Senate president expires before the end of the
unexpired term of office of governor, the person next elected
Senate president shall assume the offices of lieutenant governor
and governor, and so forth until the end of the unexpired term of
office of governor.
§16. Vacancy in governorship, how filled.
In case of the death, conviction, or impeachment, failure to
qualify or resignation , or other disability of the governor, the
president of the Senate shall act as governor until the vacancy is
filled, or the disability removed; and if the president of the
Senate lieutenant governor shall become governor for the remainder
of the unexpired term of office. In case of the mental or physical
disability of the governor, the lieutenant governor shall act as
governor until the disability is removed or the unexpired term
ends, whichever occurs first. If the lieutenant governor, for any of the above named causes, shall become becomes incapable of
performing the duties of governor, the same shall devolve upon the
speaker of the House of Delegates; and in all other cases where
there is no one who is otherwise designated by law to be in the
line of succession to the office of governor who is able to act as
governor, one shall be chosen by joint vote of the Legislature.
Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of governor before the
first three years of the term shall have expired, a new election
for governor shall take place to fill the vacancy.
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Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of
article eleven, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, such proposed
amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment No. 3" and designated as
the "Single Six-Year Term of Governor; and Office of Lieutenant
Governor Created Amendment" and the purpose of the proposed
amendment is summarized as follows: "To limit eligibility for the
office of governor to one six-year term and to create the office of
lieutenant governor."
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(NOTE: The purpose of this resolution is to limit eligibility
for the office of governor to a single six-year term and to create
the office of lieutenant governor.
Section five-a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)