H. B. 2655
(By Delegates Butcher, Dempsey,
Kuhn and Collins)
[Introduced February 4, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article one, chapter
fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing
magistrate salaries equal to the salary of Class I clerks of
the circuit court.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article one, chapter fifty of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. COURTS AND OFFICERS.
§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: And
provided further, That on and after the first day of January, two
thousand, magistrates who serve less than eight thousand five
hundred in population shall be paid annual salaries of
thirty-five thousand six hundred twenty-five dollars and
magistrates who serve eight thousand five hundred or more in
population shall be paid annual salaries of forty-two thousand
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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase magistrate
salaries in the more populous counties equal to the salary of the
Class I clerks of circuit courts, while retaining the same salary
differential between the first and second level magistrates.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.