Senate Bill No. 430
(By Senator Facemyer)
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[Introduced January 28, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article one,
chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact
section four, article five of said chapter; and to amend
and reenact section one, article one, chapter fifty of said
code, all relating to election of magistrates; providing
for numbered divisions within counties having more than one
magistrate for election purposes only beginning with the
primary and general elections to be held in the year two
thousand four; and providing for the nomination or election
of a candidate for magistrate receiving the highest number
of votes within a division.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article one, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that section four, article
five of said chapter be amended and reenacted; and that section
one, article one, chapter fifty of said code be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 3. ELECTIONS.
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS.
§3-1-17. Election of circuit judges; county and district
officers; magistrates.
There shall be elected, at the general election to be held
in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, and in every
eighth year thereafter, one judge of the circuit court of every
judicial circuit entitled to but one judge, and one judge for
each numbered division of the judicial circuit in those judicial
circuits entitled to two or more circuit judges; and at the
general election to be held in the year one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, and in every fourth year thereafter, a
sheriff, prosecuting attorney, surveyor of lands and the number
of assessors prescribed by law for the county, and the number of
magistrates prescribed by law for the county: Provided, That
there shall be elected at the general election to be held in the
year two thousand four, and in every fourth year thereafter, one
magistrate of every county entitled to but one magistrate and one magistrate for each numbered division for magistrates in
those counties entitled to two or more magistrates; and at the
general election to be held in the year, one thousand nine
hundred ninety, and in every second year thereafter, a
commissioner of the county commission for each county; and at
the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, and in every sixth year thereafter, a clerk
of the county commission and a clerk of the circuit court for
each county.
ARTICLE 5. PRIMARY ELECTIONS AND NOMINATING PROCEDURES.
§3-5-4. Nomination of candidates in primary elections.
At each primary election, the candidate or candidates of
each political party for all offices to be filled at the ensuing
general election by the voters of the entire state, of each
congressional district, of each state senatorial district, of
each delegate district, of each judicial circuit of West
Virginia, of each county, and of each magisterial district in
the state shall be nominated by the voters of the different
political parties, except that no presidential elector shall be
nominated at a primary election.
In primary elections a plurality of the votes cast shall be
sufficient for the nomination of candidates for office. Where
only one candidate of a political party for any office in a political division, including party committeemen and delegates
to national conventions, is to be chosen, or where a judicial
circuit has two or more circuit judges and one circuit judge is
to be chosen for each numbered division within the circuit, or
where a county is entitled to two or more magistrates and one
magistrate is to be chosen for each numbered division for
magistrate in the county, the candidate receiving the highest
number of votes therefor in the primary election shall be
declared the party nominee for such office. Where two or more
such candidates are to be chosen in the primary election, the
candidates constituting the proper number to be so chosen who
shall receive the highest number of votes cast in the political
division in which they are candidates shall be declared the
party nominees and choices for such offices, except that: (1)
Candidates for the office of commissioner of the county
commission shall be nominated and elected in accordance with the
provisions of section ten, article nine of the constitution of
the state of West Virginia; (2) members of county boards of
education shall be elected at primary elections in accordance
with the provisions of sections five and six of this article;
(3) candidates for the House of Delegates shall be nominated and
elected in accordance with the residence restrictions provided
in section two, article two, chapter one of this code; and (4) in judicial circuits having numbered divisions and in counties
with numbered divisions for the office of magistrate, each
numbered division shall be tallied separately and the candidate
in each division receiving a plurality of the votes cast shall
be declared the party nominee for the office in that numbered
division.
In case of tie votes between candidates for party
nominations or elections in primary elections, the choice of the
political party shall be determined by the executive committee
of the party for the political division in which such persons
are candidates.
CHAPTER 50. MAGISTRATE COURTS.
ARTICLE 1. COURTS AND OFFICERS.
§50-1-1. Magistrate court created.
There is hereby created in each county of this state a
magistrate court with such numbers of magistrates for each court
as are hereafter provided. There shall be elected by the voters
of each county, at the general election to be held in the year
one thousand nine hundred seventy-six, and in every fourth year
thereafter, such number of magistrates as is provided in section
two of this article. Beginning with the primary and general
elections to be conducted in the year two thousand four, and in
every fourth year thereafter, in all counties having two or more magistrates there shall be, for election purposes, numbered
divisions corresponding to the number of magistrates to be
elected. Each magistrate will be elected at large from the
entire county. In each numbered division, the candidates for
nomination or election shall be voted upon and the votes cast
for the candidates in each division shall be tallied separately
from the votes cast for candidates in other numbered divisions
within the county. The candidate receiving the highest number
of votes within a numbered division shall be nominated or
elected, as the case may be. The filing fee for the office of
magistrate shall be one percent of the annual salary. The term
of magistrates shall be for four years and shall begin on the
first day of January of the year following the year of election.
In counties where voting machines or electronic voting
systems are used, the procedures of section eleven, article
four, chapter three and section twelve, article four-a of said
chapter three of this code shall apply respectively to the
election of magistrates in the same manner as they apply to the
election of members of the House of Delegates.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section seven, article
five, chapter three of this code, for purposes of the primary
election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred
seventy-six, the last day for filing certificates of candidacy for the office of magistrate shall be extended to the twenty-
seventh day of February of that year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for numbered
divisions for the nomination and election of magistrates in
counties that have two or more magistrates, beginning in the
year 2004. The divisions and election procedures therefore are
essentially similar as provided for the nomination and election
of circuit judges in circuits having more than one judge.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.