Senate Bill No. 124
(By Senators Kessler, Ball, Dittmar and Deem)
____________
[Introduced January 18, 2000; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article three, chapter
fifty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to county
commissions; and providing for a process of selecting and
overseeing deputy sheriffs who serve as court bailiff.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article three, chapter fifty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. COURTS IN GENERAL.
§51-3-5. Attending officer; court bailiffs.
The supreme court of appeals shall may not be attended by any sheriff, but every circuit court, county court commission and
other court of record of any county shall be attended by the
sheriff of the county in which it is held, or a deputy sheriff
designated by the sheriff, who shall act as the officer thereof.
The sheriff shall select a deputy sheriff to serve as court
bailiff. While serving as court bailiff, the deputy sheriff is
under the direction and control of the circuit court. The
sheriff is responsible for scheduling deputy sheriffs to assure
the attendance of a qualified deputy sheriff at court
proceedings. The court may reject the appointment of any deputy
sheriff selected by the sheriff to serve as court bailiff, at
which time the sheriff shall select another deputy sheriff to
serve.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify the roles of
sheriffs and sheriff deputies, as court bailiff in courts of
record.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
This bill was recommended by the Joint Committee on the
Judiciary for introduction and passage in the 1999 legislative
session.