H. B. 2595
(By Delegates Whitman, Dempsey, Kominar,
Tomblin, Preece and Henderson)
[Introduced February 21, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections three and nine, article one,
chapter fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing
the salary for magistrates and their assistants.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three and nine, 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. Salary 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 United States Constitution;
(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 the state 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. On and after the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, magistrates who
serve less than eight thousand five hundred in population shall
be paid annual salaries of twenty-eight 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-five thousand five hundred 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.
§50-1-9. Magistrate assistants; salary; duties.
In each county there shall be one magistrate assistant for
each magistrate. Each magistrate assistant shall be appointed by
the magistrate under whose authority and supervision and at whose will and pleasure he or she shall serve. The assistant shall not
be a member of the immediate family of any magistrate and shall
not have been convicted of a felony or any misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude and shall reside in the state of West Virginia.
For the purpose of this section, "immediate family" means the
relationships of mother, father, sister, brother, child or
spouse.
A magistrate assistant shall have such duties, clerical or
otherwise, as may be assigned by the magistrate and as may be
prescribed by the rules of the supreme court of appeals or the
judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge thereof if there
is more than one judge of the circuit court. In addition to
these duties, magistrate assistants shall perform and be
accountable to the magistrate court clerks with respect to the
following duties:
(1) The preparation of summons in civil actions;
(2) The assignment of civil actions to the various
magistrates;
(3) The collection of all costs, fees, fines, forfeitures
and penalties which may be payable to the court;
(4) The submission of such moneys, along with an accounting
thereof, to appropriate authorities as provided by law;
(5) The daily disposition of closed files which are to be
located in the magistrate clerk's office;
(6) All duties related to the gathering of information and
documents necessary for the preparation of administrative reports
and documents required by the rules of the supreme court of
appeals or the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge
thereof if there is more than one judge of the circuit court;
(7) All duties relating to the notification, certification
and payment of jurors serving pursuant to the terms of this
chapter;
(8) All other duties or responsibilities whereby the
magistrate assistant is accountable to the magistrate court clerk
as the magistrate determines.
Magistrate assistants shall be paid a monthly salary by the
state. Magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve less
than ten thousand in population shall be paid up to nine hundred
sixty-seven dollars per month and magistrate assistants serving
magistrates who serve ten thousand or more in population shall be
paid up to one thousand two hundred twenty-five dollars per
month: Provided, That on and after the first day of January, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-two, magistrate assistants serving
magistrates who serve less than ten thousand in population shall
be paid up to one thousand fifty-one dollars per month and
magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve ten thousand
or more in population shall be paid up to one thousand three
hundred nine dollars per month: Provided, however, That on and after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-
three, magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve less
than eight thousand five hundred in population shall be paid up
to one thousand one hundred seventy-six dollars per month and
magistrate assistants serving magistrates who serve eight
thousand five hundred or more in population shall be paid up to
one thousand four hundred thirty-four dollars per month:
Provided further, That on and after the first day of July one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, magistrate assistants serving
magistrates who serve less than eight thousand five hundred in
population shall be paid up to sixteen thousand one hundred
twelve dollars per year and magistrate assistants serving
magistrates who serve eight thousand five hundred or more in
population shall be paid up to nineteen thousand two hundred
twenty dollars per year: And provided further, That after the
effective date of this section, any general salary increase
granted to all state employees, whose salaries are not set by
statute, expressed as a percentage increase or an "across-
the-board" increase, may also be granted to magistrate
assistants. 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. The
salary of the magistrate assistant shall be established by the
magistrate within the limits set forth in this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the salary of
magistrates and their assistants.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.