Senate Bill No. 519
(By Senator Prezioso, Unger, Snyder, McCabe, Kessler, Anderson,
Fanning, Helmick, Mitchell, Plymale, Hunter, Chafin, Sharpe,
Ross, Love, Rowe, Caldwell, Redd, Facemyer, Sprouse, Minear,
Minard, Bailey, Bowman, Wooton, Jackson, Craigo, Oliverio, Edgell
and Tomblin, Mr. President)
____________
[Introduced February 6, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then 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 salaries of
magistrates.
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 July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-nine, magistrates who serve less than eight thousand
five hundred in population shall be paid annual salaries of thirty
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-seven thousand dollars: And provided further, That on and after the first day of July, two thousand two,
magistrates who serve less than eight thousand five hundred in
population shall be paid annual salaries of thirty-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 forty 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 the salary of
magistrates by $3000.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.