Senate Bill No. 68
(By Senators Schoonover, Mitchell, Hunter, Love, Ball
and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 13, 1999; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections three, eight and nine,
article one, chapter fifty of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to increasing salaries of magistrates, magistrate clerks and
magistrate assistants.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three, eight and nine, article one, chapter
fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. MAGISTRATE COURTS.
§50-1-3. Salaries of magistrates.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that:
(1) The West Virginia supreme court of appeals has held that a salary system for magistrates which is based upon the
population that each magistrate serves does not violate the equal
protection clause of the Constitution of the United States;
(2) The West Virginia supreme court of appeals has held that
a salary system for magistrates which is based upon the
population that each magistrate serves does not violate article
VI, section 39 of the constitution of West Virginia;
(3) The utilization of a two-tiered salary schedule for
magistrates is an equitable and rational manner by which
magistrates should be compensated for work performed;
(4) Organizing the two tiers of the salary schedule into one
tier for magistrates serving less than eight thousand five
hundred in population and the second tier for magistrates serving
eight thousand five hundred or more in population is rational and
equitable given current statistical information relating to
population and caseload; and
(5) That all magistrates who fall under the same tier should
be compensated equally.
(b) The salary of each magistrate shall be paid by the
state. Magistrates who serve less than ten thousand in population shall be paid annual salaries of twenty thousand six
hundred twenty-five dollars and magistrates who serve ten
thousand or more in population shall be paid annual salaries of
twenty-seven thousand dollars: Provided, That on and after the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two,
magistrates who serve less than ten thousand in population shall
be paid annual salaries of twenty-one thousand six hundred
twenty-five dollars and magistrates who serve ten thousand or
more in population shall be paid annual salaries of twenty-eight
thousand dollars: Provided, however, That on and after the first
day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three,
magistrates who serve less than eight thousand five hundred in
population shall be paid annual salaries of twenty-three thousand
six hundred twenty-five dollars and magistrates who serve eight
thousand five hundred or more in population shall be paid annual
salaries of thirty thousand dollars: Provided further, That On
and after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, magistrates who serve less than eight thousand five
hundred in population shall be paid annual salaries of twenty-six
thousand six hundred twenty-five dollars and magistrates who
serve eight thousand five hundred or more in population shall be paid annual salaries of thirty-three thousand dollars. On and
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety- nine, magistrates who serve less than eight thousand five hundred
in population shall be paid annual salaries of twenty-nine
thousand six hundred twenty-five dollars, and magistrates who
serve eight thousand five hundred or more in population shall be
paid annual salaries of thirty-five thousand five hundred
dollars.
(c) For the purpose of determining the population served by
each magistrate, the number of magistrates authorized for each
county shall be divided into the population of each county. For
the purpose of this article, the population of each county is the
population as determined by the last preceding decennial census
taken under the authority of the United States government.
§50-1-8. Magistrate court clerks; salaries; duties; duties of
circuit clerk.
In each county having three or more magistrates the judge of
the circuit court or the chief judge thereof, if there is more
than one judge of the circuit court, shall appoint a magistrate
court clerk. In all other counties such judge may appoint a
magistrate court clerk or may by rule require the duties of the magistrate court clerk to be performed by the clerk of the
circuit court, in which event such circuit court clerk shall be
entitled to additional compensation in the amount of two thousand
five hundred dollars per year. The magistrate court clerk shall
serve at the will and pleasure of the circuit judge.
The salary of each magistrate court clerks clerk shall be
paid a monthly salary by the state. Magistrate court clerks
serving magistrates who serve less than ten thousand in
population shall be paid up to one thousand two hundred forty-one
dollars per month and magistrate court clerks serving magistrates
who serve ten thousand or more in population shall be paid up to
one thousand six hundred fifty dollars per month: Provided, That
on and after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-two, magistrate court clerks serving magistrates who serve
less than ten thousand in population shall be paid up to one
thousand three hundred twenty-five dollars per month and
magistrate court clerks serving magistrates who serve ten
thousand or more in population shall be paid up to one thousand
seven hundred thirty-four dollars per month: Provided, however,
That On and after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, magistrate court clerks serving magistrates who serve less than eight thousand five hundred in population
shall be paid up to one thousand four hundred fifty dollars per
month and magistrate court clerks serving magistrates who serve
eight thousand five hundred or more in population shall be paid
up to one thousand eight hundred fifty-nine dollars per month.
On and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine, magistrate court clerks serving magistrates who
serve less than eight thousand five hundred in population shall
be paid up to eighteen thousand nine hundred dollars per year,
and magistrate clerks serving magistrates who serve eight
thousand five hundred or more in population shall be paid up to
twenty-three thousand eight hundred eight dollars per year.
Provided further, That after the effective date of this section,
Any general salary increase granted to all state employees, whose
salaries are not set by statute, expressed as a percentage
increase or an "across-the-board" increase, may also be granted
to magistrate court clerks. For the purpose of determining the
population served by each magistrate, the number of magistrates
authorized for each county shall be divided into the population
of each county. The salary of the magistrate court clerk shall
be established by the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge thereof if there is more than one judge of the circuit
court, within the limits set forth in this section.
In addition to other duties as may be imposed by the
provisions of this chapter or by the rules of the supreme court
of appeals or the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge
thereof if there is more than one judge of the circuit court, it
is the duty of the magistrate court clerk to establish and
maintain appropriate dockets and records in a centralized system
for the magistrate court, to assist in the preparation of such
reports as may be required of the court and to carry out on
behalf of the magistrates or chief magistrate if a chief
magistrate is appointed, the administrative duties of the court.
The magistrate court clerk or, if there is no magistrate
court clerk in the county, the clerk of the circuit court has the
authority to issue all manner of civil process and to require the
enforcement of subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum in magistrate
court.
§50-1-9. Magistrate assistants; salary; duties.
In each county there shall be one magistrate assistant for
each magistrate. Each magistrate assistant shall be appointed by
the magistrate under whose authority and supervision and at whose will and pleasure he or she shall serve. The assistant shall not
be a member of the immediate family of any magistrate and shall
not have been convicted of a felony or any misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude and shall reside in the state of West Virginia.
For the purpose of this section, "immediate family" means the
relationships of mother, father, sister, brother, child or
spouse.
A magistrate assistant shall have such duties, clerical or
otherwise, as may be assigned by the magistrate and as may be
prescribed by the rules of the supreme court of appeals or the
judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge thereof if there
is more than one judge of the circuit court. In addition to
these duties, magistrate assistants shall perform and be
accountable to the magistrate court clerks with respect to the
following duties:
(1) The preparation of summons in civil actions;
(2) The assignment of civil actions to the various
magistrates;
(3) The collection of all costs, fees, fines, forfeitures
and penalties which may be payable to the court;
(4) The submission of such moneys, along with an accounting thereof, to appropriate authorities as provided by law;
(5) The daily disposition of closed files which are to be
located in the magistrate clerk's office;
(6) All duties related to the gathering of information and
documents necessary for the preparation of administrative reports
and documents required by the rules of the supreme court of
appeals or the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge
thereof if there is more than one judge of the circuit court;
(7) All duties relating to the notification, certification
and payment of jurors serving pursuant to the terms of this
chapter;
(8) All other duties or responsibilities whereby the
magistrate assistant is accountable to the magistrate court clerk
as the magistrate determines.
The salary of each magistrate assistants assistant shall be
paid a monthly salary by the state. Magistrate assistants
serving magistrates who serve less than ten thousand in
population shall be paid up to nine hundred sixty-seven dollars
per month and magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve
ten thousand or more in population shall be paid up to one
thousand two hundred twenty-five dollars per month: Provided,
That on and after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, magistrate assistants serving magistrates who
serve less than ten thousand in population shall be paid up to
one thousand fifty-one dollars per month and magistrate
assistants serving magistrates who serve ten thousand or more in
population shall be paid up to one thousand three hundred nine
dollars per month: Provided, however,
That On and after the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three,
magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve less than
eight thousand five hundred in population shall be paid up to one
thousand one hundred seventy-six dollars per month and magistrate
assistants serving magistrates who serve eight thousand five
hundred or more in population shall be paid up to one thousand
four hundred thirty-four dollars per month. On and after the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine,
magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve less than
eight thousand five hundred in population shall be paid up to
fifteen thousand one hundred twelve dollars per year, and
magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve eight
thousand five hundred or more in population shall be paid up to
eighteen thousand two hundred eight dollars per year.
Provided further,
That after the effective date of this section, Any
general salary increase granted to all state employees, whose
salaries are not set by statute, expressed as a percentage
increase or an "across-the-board" increase, may also be granted
to magistrate assistants. For the purpose of determining the
population served by each magistrate, the number of magistrates
authorized for each county shall be divided into the population
of each county. The salary of the magistrate assistant shall be
established by the magistrate within the limits set forth in this
section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase salaries of
magistrates, magistrate clerks, and magistrate assistants.
Technical changes have been made to eliminate archaic
language.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.