H. B. 4468
(By Delegate Miley, Hunt, Ellem, Brown,
Frazier, Hutchins, Barker and Caputo)
(By Request of the Secretary of State)
[Introduced
February 12, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-10-5 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended relating to clarification of the procedures
for vacancies in the State Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-10-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. FILLING VACANCIES.
§3-10-5. Vacancies in State Legislature.
(a)Any vacancy in the office of State Senator or member of
the House of Delegates shall be filled by appointment by the
Governor, in each instance from a list of three legally qualified
persons submitted by the party executive committee of the party
with which the person holding the office immediately preceding the
vacancy was affiliated. Such list of qualified persons to fill the vacancy shall be submitted to the Governor within fifteen days
after the vacancy occurs and the Governor shall duly make his or
her appointment to fill the vacancy from the list of legally
qualified person within five days after the list is received. If
the list is not submitted to the Governor within the fifteen day
period, the Governor shall appoint within five days thereafter a
legally qualified person of the same political party as the person
vacating the office.
(b) of the delegate district in In the case of a member of the
House of Delegates, the list shall be submitted by the party
executive committee of the delegate district in which the vacating
member resided at the time of his or her election or appointment.
If the delegate district covers all or part of more than one
county, all three qualifying persons shall be residents of the
portion of the county and district in which the vacating member
resided at the time of his or her election or appointment to the
House of Delegates. The appointment to fill a vacancy in the House
of Delegates is for the unexpired term.
(c) and by the party executive committee of the state
senatorial district in In the case of a State Senator, the list
shall be submitted by the party executive committee of the state
senatorial district in which the vacating senator resided at the
time of his or her election or appointment. of the party with which the person holding the office immediately preceding the
vacancy was affiliated, and of the county or state senatorial
district, respectively, in which he resided at the time of his
election or appointment. If the vacating member of the House of
Delegates resided in a county only a portion of which is included
in his delegate district, all three of the qualified persons
submitted shall be residents of that portion of the county in which
the vacating delegate resided at the time of his election or
appointment to the House of Delegates. The appointment to fill a
vacancy in the House of Delegates shall be for the unexpired term.
Such list of legally qualified persons to fill the vacancy shall be
submitted to the Governor within fifteen days after such vacancy
occurs and the Governor shall duly make his appointment to fill
such vacancy from such list of legally qualified persons within
five days after same is received. If such list is not submitted to
the Governor within the fifteen day period, the Governor shall
appoint within five days thereafter a legally qualified person of
the political party of the person vacating the office. If the
unexpired term in the office of the State Senator
will be for less
than two years and two months, the appointment
shall be is for the
unexpired term. If the unexpired term
will be for a period
equal
to or longer than two years and two months, the appointment
shall
be is until the next general election and until the election and qualification of a successor to the person appointed, at which
general election the vacancy shall be filled by election for the
unexpired term. Notice of an election to fill a vacancy in the
office of State Senator shall be given by the Governor by
proclamation and shall be published
prior to such before
the election as a Class II-0 legal advertisement in compliance with
the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code,
and the publication area for
such the publication shall be each
county in the senatorial district. Nominations for candidates to
fill
such a vacancy shall be made in the manner prescribed for
nominating a candidate to fill a vacancy in the office of Governor
to be voted for at a general election. The state senatorial
district executive committee of the political party shall discharge
the duties incident to State Senator nominations devolving upon the
party state executive committee in nominating a candidate for a
state office.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify the procedures
for filling vacancies in the State Legislature.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.