HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 113
(By Delegate Dalton)
[Introduced February 27, 1998; referred to the
Committee Constitutional Revision.]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West
Virginia, amending section two, article eight thereof,
relating to the supreme court of appeals and the election of
a nonlawyer to that court; 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-eight,
which proposed amendment is that section two, article eight
thereof, be amended to read as follows:
ARTICLE VIII. THE JUDICIARY.
§2. Supreme court of appeals.
The supreme court of appeals shall consist of five justices,
one of whom shall be a nonlawyer. A majority of the justices of the court shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of
business.
The justices shall be elected by the voters of the state for
a term of twelve years, unless sooner removed or retired as
authorized in this article. The Legislature may prescribe by law
whether the election of such justices is to be on a partisan or
nonpartisan basis and, effective upon the approval of this
amendment, shall prescribe for the election of one justice who is
a nonlawyer.
Provision shall be made by rules of the supreme court of
appeals for the selection of a member of the court to serve as
chief justice thereof. If the chief justice is temporarily
disqualified or unable to serve, one of the justices of the court
designated in accordance with the rules of the court shall serve
temporarily in his or her stead.
When any justice is temporarily disqualified or unable to
serve, the chief justice may assign a judge of a circuit court or
of an intermediate appellate court to serve from time to time in his or her stead.
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. 1" and designated as
the "Nonlawyer Member of the Supreme Court of Appeals Amendment",
and the purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as
follows:
"To amend section two, article eight of the sState
Cconstitution so as to provide for the election of a nonlawyer
member of the supreme court of appeals."
NOTE: The purpose of this resolution is to propose an
amendment to Section two, Article VIII of the West Virginia
constitution, providing for the election of a nonlawyer to the
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present Cconstitutionlaw, and underscoring indicates new
language that would be added.