Introduced Version
Senate Bill 223 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 223
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Caruth,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced January 14, 2010; 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 §3-10-3a, relating to
the establishment of the Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission;
providing for commission membership and terms of appointment;
requiring written policies and procedures of the commission;
establishing a quorum requirement; requiring that certain
proceedings of the commission be open to the public; requiring
the disclosure of certain documents or materials; exempting
certain meetings from the Open Governmental Proceedings Act;
and exempting certain documents and materials from the Freedom
of Information Act.
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 §3-10-3a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 10. FILLING VACANCIES.
§3-10-3a. Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission.
(a) The Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission is hereby
established to assist the Governor in filling judicial vacancies.
The commission shall meet and submit a list of no more than five
nor less than two best qualified persons to the Governor within
ninety days of the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of justice
of the Supreme Court of Appeals, judge of an intermediate appellate
court, judge of a circuit court, or judge of a family court.
(b) The commission shall consist of eight appointed members.
Four public members shall be appointed by the Governor for six-year
terms, except for the initial appointments which shall be staggered
in accordance with subsection (c) of this section. Four attorney
members shall be appointed by the Governor for six-year terms,
except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, from a list
of nominees provided by the Board of Governors of the West Virginia
State Bar. The Board of Governors of the West Virginia State Bar
shall nominate no more than twenty nor less than ten best qualified
attorneys for appointment to the commission whenever there is a
vacancy in the membership of the commission reserved for attorney
members. The commission shall choose one of its appointed members
to serve as chair for a three-year term. No more than four
appointed members of the commission shall belong to the same
political party. No more than three appointed members of the commission shall be residents of the same congressional district.
All members of the commission shall be citizens of this state.
Public members of the commission may not be licensed to practice
law in West Virginia or any other jurisdiction.
(c) Of the initial appointments made to the commission, two
public members and two attorney members shall be appointed for a
term ending two years after the effective date of this section, one
public member and one attorney member shall be appointed for a term
ending four years after the effective date of this section, and one
public member and one attorney member shall be appointed for a term
ending six years after the effective date of this section.
(d) The Governor, or his or her designee, the President of the
West Virginia State Bar, and the Dean of the West Virginia
University College of Law shall serve as ex officio members of the
commission.
(e) Members of the commission shall serve without
compensation, except that commission members are entitled to
reimbursement of travel and other necessary expenses actually
incurred while engaged in official commission activities in
accordance with the guidelines of the Travel Management Office of
the Department of Administration, or its successor entity. The
Governor's Office shall cooperate with the commission to ensure
that all resources necessary to carrying out the official duties of
the commission are provided, including staff assistance, equipment and materials.
(f) The commission shall adopt written policies that formalize
and standardize all operating procedures and ethical practices of
its members including, but not limited to, procedures for training
commission members, publishing notice of judicial vacancies,
recruiting qualified individuals for consideration by the
commission, receiving applications from qualified individuals,
notifying the public of judicial vacancies, notifying state or
local groups and organizations of judicial vacancies, and
soliciting public comment on judicial vacancies. The written
policies of the commission are not subject to the provisions of
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, but shall be filed with the
Secretary of State.
(g) A majority of the commission plus one shall constitute a
quorum to do business.
(h) All organizational meetings of the commission shall be
open to the public and subject to the requirements of article nine-
a, chapter six of this code. An "organizational meeting" means an
initial meeting to discuss the commission's procedures and
requirements for a judicial vacancy. The commission shall hold at
least one organizational meeting upon the occurrence of a judicial
vacancy. All other meetings of the commission are exempt from
article nine-a, chapter six of this code.
(i) The commission shall make available to the public copies of any applications and any letters of recommendation written on
behalf of any applicants. All other documents or materials created
or received by the commission shall be confidential and exempt from
the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-b of this code, except for
the list of best qualified persons or accompanying memoranda
submitted to the Governor in accordance with the provisions of
subsection (j) of this section, which shall be available for public
inspection, and the written policies required to be filed with the
Secretary of State in accordance with subsection (f) of this
section.
(j) The commission shall submit its list of best qualified
persons to the Governor in alphabetical order. A memorandum may
accompany the list of best qualified persons and state facts
concerning each of the persons listed. The commission shall make
copies of any list of best qualified persons and accompanying
memoranda it submits to the Governor available for public
inspection.
NOTE: The purpose of this Bill is to establish the Judicial
Vacancy Advisory Commission to assist the Governor in filling
judicial vacancies. The Commission consists of eight appointed
members who are appointed by the Governor to six-year terms, four
of which are attorneys chosen from a list of names submitted by the
Governing Board of the West Virginia State Bar and four of which
are lay members. The Governor, the President of the West Virginia
State Bar, and the Dean of the West Virginia University College of
Law are ex officio members. The bill requires the commission to
establish procedures for considering potential judicial appointees
and requires the submission of a list of no more than five nor less
than two names of best qualified persons to the Governor.
This section is new; therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring are omitted.