Senate Bill No. 645
(By Senator Tomblin, Mr. President)
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[Introduced February 23, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §14-2-4a, relating to
providing a procedure for appointing an interim judge to the
court of claims when a sitting judge is temporarily unable to
serve.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §14-2-4a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE.
§14-2-4a. Interim judges.
(a) If at any time two or more of the judges appointed under
section four of this article are temporarily unable, due to illness
or other incapacity, to perform their responsibilities the
president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Delegates may appoint one or two interim judges to serve under the conditions
specified in this section.
(b) Appointments made under this section are temporary. An
interim judge serves under this section until the judge for whom
the interim judge is temporarily replacing can resume his or her
duties. In no event may the interim judge serve for more than
three months unless reappointed.
(c) Appointments made under this section shall be made from a
list furnished to t
he president of the Senate and the speaker of
the House of Delegates
by the board of governors of the West
Virginia state bar.
The board of governors of the West Virginia
state bar
shall annually, on or before the fifteenth day of
January, submit a list of twenty qualified nominees. In two
thousand four, the list shall be submitted before the first day of
April.
(d) An interim judge:
(1) Is entitled to the same compensation and expense
reimbursement a judge is entitled to under the provisions of
section eight of this article;
(2) Shall take the oath of office as required in section nine
of this article;
(3) Has all the authority given to a judge under this article;
and
(4) Is required to possess the qualifications required of a judge in section ten of this article.
(e) The president of the Senate and the speaker of the House
of Delegates may jointly terminate the appointment of any interim
judge appointed under this section at any time.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
provide a procedure for
appointing an interim judge to the court of claims when a sitting
judge is temporarily unable to serve.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)