Senate Bill No. 45
(By Senators Love, Helmick, Ross, Dawson, Deem, Ball, Hunter,
Mitchell, Oliverio, Sharpe, Boley, Fanning and Chafin)
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[Introduced January 12, 2000; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article one, chapter fifty
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing the maximum
number of magistrates allowed and prohibiting the reduction of
the number of magistrates allocated to each county as of the
thirty-first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-
nine, for magistrates which are to be elected for the term of
office commencing on the first day of January, two thousand
one.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, 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.
§50-1-2. Number of magistrates.
(a) The number of magistrates to be elected in each county of
this state shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(b) On or before the thirty-first day of January, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-six, and on or before the first day of January
in every fourth year thereafter, the supreme court of appeals shall
certify to the board of ballot commissioners of each county the
number of magistrates to be elected in that county for the term of
office commencing on the first day of January of the succeeding
year. The number of magistrates so certified shall be determined
in accordance with the following:
(1) The court may not provide:
(A) For the total number of magistrates in the state to exceed
one hundred fifty-six one hundred fifty-nine in number: Provided,
That, effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, the total number of magistrates in the state may not
exceed one hundred fifty-seven in number. An appointment shall be made on the effective date of this subsection to fill the
additional magistrate position created herein;
(B) For the number of magistrates in any one county to exceed
ten in number; or
(C) For the number of magistrates in any one county to be less
than two in number.
(2) The court shall determine the number of magistrates that
would be apportioned for each county by the application of an equal
proportions formula, as follows:
(A) Two magistrates shall be allocated to each county;
(B) The population of the county shall be divided by a
mathematical factor, as established by the equal proportion method,
to establish each county's priority claim to additional magistrates
above the two magistrates provided for by paragraph (A) of this
subdivision; and
(C) Additional numbers of magistrates shall be allocated to
the several counties in order of priority claims, beginning with
the largest claim, until magistrates have been assigned within the
limits of this section.
For purposes of this article, a determination made in
accordance with the provisions of this subdivision is the "equal proportion number".
(3) The court shall determine the number of magistrates
elected in each county at the last general election in which
magistrates were regularly elected next prior to the preceding
census taken under the authority of the United States government.
For purposes of this article, that number shall be referred to as
the "election number".
(4) The court shall determine the number of case filings per
magistrate in each magistrate court for the most recent fiscal year
preceding the date of certification, and shall rank the magistrate
courts from one through fifty-five, in the order of their case
filings per magistrate, with the court having the most filings per
magistrate being ranked number one, and the court with the least
filings per magistrate being ranked number fifty-five.
(5) If the court determines that the equal proportion number
for a county is the same as the election number for that county,
the court shall certify that number as the number of magistrates to
be elected in that county at the next election.
(6) If the court determines that the equal proportion number
for a county is different from the election number for that county,
the court shall apply the ranking established by subdivision (4) of this subsection and determine the number of magistrates for the
county, as follows:
(A) If the equal proportion number exceeds the election
number, the number of magistrates to be elected in that county at
the next election shall be the election number: Provided, That, if
the county is ranked as one through ten, inclusive, in accordance
with subdivision (4) of this subsection, the court shall certify
the equal proportion number as the number of magistrates to be
elected in that county at the next election;
(B) If the equal proportion number is less than the election
number, the number of magistrates to be elected in that county at
the next election shall be the equal proportion number: Provided,
That if the county is ranked as one through ten, inclusive, in
accordance with subdivision (4) of this subsection, the court shall
certify the election number as the number of magistrates to be
elected in that county at the next election.
(c) Any magistrate in office at the time of the effective date
of this section shall continue as a magistrate, unless sooner
removed or retired as provided by law, until the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three. Notwithstanding
the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, for magistrates which are to be elected for the term of office
commencing on the first day of January, two thousand one, the
number of magistrates allocated to each county may not be reduced
below the number allocated to each county as of the thirty-first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to keep from reducing the
number of magistrates allocated to each county.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.