COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 591
(By Senators Kessler, Green, Sypolt, Barnes, Minard,
Laird, Jenkins, Snyder, Williams and Plymale)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 19, 2009.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §50-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the election of magistrates by
division; providing that all magistrates will be elected by
divisions; providing that all magistrates will be elected at
large from the entire county he or she serves; and requiring
the Supreme Court of Appeals to assign magistrates to
districts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §50-1-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. COURTS AND OFFICERS.
§50-1-1. Magistrate court created; election by division.
(a) There is hereby created in each county of
this the state
a magistrate court
with such numbers consisting of the number of
magistrates for each court
as are hereafter provided that is
authorized by the provisions of this article. 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. The filing fee for the
office of magistrate shall be one percent of the annual salary.
Each magistrate is elected at large by the voters of the county in
which he or she will serve. The term of
magistrates magistrate
shall be for four years and shall begin on January 1 of the year
following the year of election.
The filing fee for the office of
magistrate is one percent of the annual salary.
(b) Beginning with the primary and general elections to be
conducted in 2012, in every county there shall be, for election
purposes, numbered divisions corresponding to the number of
magistrates in each county.
There shall be no less than two and no
more than ten magisterial divisions in each county. The Supreme
Court of Appeals shall make the initial assignment of divisions for
each county by administrative order. The court shall enter
additional orders as necessary in the event the Legislature
increases or decreases the number of magistrates serving in any
county.
In each numbered division of the county, 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
the votes cast within a numbered division shall be either nominated
or elected, whatever the case may be.
(c) In counties where voting machines or electronic voting
systems are used, the procedures of section eleven, article four, chapter three of this code and section twelve, article four-a of
said chapter 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.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that
magistrates of a county run for election in numbered divisions
similar to the election of circuit judges.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)