Senate Bill No. 458
(By Senators Wooton, Ross and Ball)
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[Introduced February 8, 1999;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article two, chapter
fourteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the membership
of the court of claims.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article two, chapter fourteen of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE.
§14-2-4. Creation of court of claims; appointment and terms of
judges; vacancies.
The "court of claims" is hereby created. It shall consist
of three judges, to be appointed by the president of the Senate
and the speaker of the House of Delegates, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one of whom shall be appointed
presiding judge. Each appointment to the court shall be made
from a list of three qualified nominees furnished by the board of
governors of the West Virginia state bar.
The terms of the judges of this court shall be six years,
except that the first members of the court shall be appointed as
follows: One judge for two years, one judge for four years and
one judge for six years. As these appointments expire, all
appointments shall be for six-year terms. Additionally, as these
appointments expire, all appointments shall be made so that each
congressional district is represented on the panel. Not more
than two of the judges shall be of the same political party. An
appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired term.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make the Court of
Claims a court of equal representation from the congressional
districts of the state.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.