ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 771
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Bowman,
Dittmar, Kessler, Ross and Schoonover)
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[Passed March 14, 1998; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact sections one and four, article four,
chapter forty-eight-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
the terms of office and the appointment of family law masters;
extending the current terms of office; creating new terms of
office; extending the term of office of the temporary law
master assigned to Marshall County; and providing for
temporary assignments of family law masters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and four, article four, chapter forty-eight- a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. PROCEEDING BEFORE A MASTER.
§48A-4-1. Appointment of family law masters; term of office;
vacancy; removal.
(a) The family law masters holding office on the first day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight by virtue of
appointments made under the prior enactments of this article shall
continue their service for a term of office ending on the thirtieth
day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine. Before the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, the
governor shall appoint family law masters in such numbers and to
serve for geographical regions of the state as provided for under
the provisions of section four of this article, with terms
commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine, and on a like date in every fourth year thereafter,
and ending on the thirtieth day of June, two thousand three, and on
a like date in every fourth year thereafter. Upon the expiration
of his or her term, a family law master may continue to perform the
duties of the office until the governor makes the appointment, or
for sixty days after the date of the expiration of the master's
term, whichever is earlier. If a vacancy occurs in the office of
family law master, the governor shall, within thirty days after
such vacancy occurs, fill the vacancy by appointment for the
unexpired term: Provided, That if the remaining portion of the
unexpired term to be filled is less than one year, the governor
may, in his or her discretion, simultaneously appoint an individual
to the unexpired term and to the next succeeding full four-year
term.
(b) An individual may be reappointed to succeeding terms as a family law master to serve in the same or a different region of the
state.
(c) Removal of a master during the term for which he or she is
appointed shall be as follows:
(1) Upon a recommendation by the judicial hearing board
created pursuant to the rules of procedure for the handling of
complaints against justices, judges, magistrates and family law
masters, if the supreme court of appeals shall find that a family
law master has violated the judicial code of ethics or that the
master, because of advancing years and attendant physical or mental
incapacity, should not continue to serve, the supreme court of
appeals may, in lieu of or in addition to any disposition
authorized by such rules, remove the family law master from office;
and
(2) The supreme court of appeals may remove a master when
conduct of the family law master evidences incompetence,
unsatisfactory performance, misconduct, neglect of duty or physical
or mental disability.
§48A-4-4. Assignment of family law masters by geographical
regions.
(a) There shall be a total of twenty-six family law masters,
not more than fourteen of whom shall be full-time masters, to serve
throughout the state. During the year immediately preceding the
appointment of law masters as provided for in section one of this article, the supreme court of appeals shall apportion the state
into geographical regions which may be single-master regions or
multi-master regions, or a combination of both. County boundaries
shall be strictly observed and no county may be divided among two
or more regions. Otherwise, in making such apportionment, the
supreme court of appeals shall construct regions which provide, as
nearly as is practicable, for the caseload of each master to be
equal to that of other masters. Mathematical exactness as to
caseload is not required and deviations from an absolute standard
may be based upon concerns, other than caseload, including, but not
limited to, deviations dictated by the following considerations:
(1) Judicial circuits;
(2) Geographical features which affect the time and expense of
travel;
(3) Traditional patterns of practice by members of the bar;
and
(4) Population variances between regions.
(b) In the region that includes Kanawha County, of the masters
appointed, not less than two shall be part-time masters.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, for the time period extending from the first day of
August, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, until the thirtieth
day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, there shall
temporarily be a total of twenty-seven family law masters, not more than fourteen of whom shall be full-time masters, to serve
throughout the state, and the additional part-time position of
family law master created by this subsection shall be assigned to
the region that includes Marshall County.
(d) Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the chief justice
of the supreme court of appeals from temporarily assigning a family
law master from one geographical region to another geographical
region, as caseload, disqualification, recusal, vacation or illness
may dictate. In each such case of temporary assignment, the chief
justice shall appoint only those persons currently serving as
family law masters and appointed pursuant to section one of this
article.
(e) The administrative office of the supreme court shall
promulgate any procedural rule necessary to delineate the duties of
the part-time and full-time law masters consistent with this
article.