COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 257
(By Senator Chafin, Oliverio, Yoder, Bailey, Dugan, Jackson,
Anderson, Plymale, Manchin, Wagner, Ross, Helmick and White)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 16, 1995.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two and three, article one,
chapter fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing
the salaries of magistrates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two and three, 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.
§50-1-2. Number of magistrates.
(a) The number of magistrates to be elected in each county
of this state shall be determined in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
(b) On or before the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, and on or before the first day of January in
every fourth year thereafter, the supreme court of appeals shall
certify to the board of ballot commissioners of each county the
number of magistrates to be elected in that county for the term of office commencing on the first day of January of the
succeeding year. The number of magistrates so certified shall be
determined in accordance with the following:
(1) The court shall not provide:
(A) For the total number of magistrates in the state to
exceed one hundred fifty-six in number;
(B) For the number of magistrates in any one county to
exceed ten in number; or
(C) For the number of magistrates in any one county to be
less than two in number.
(2) The court shall determine the number of magistrates that
would be apportioned for each county by the application of an
equal proportions formula, as follows:
(A) Two magistrates shall be allocated to each county;
(B) The population of the county shall be divided by a
mathematical factor, as established by the equal proportion
method, to establish each county's priority claim to additional
magistrates above the two magistrates provided for by paragraph
(A) of this subdivision; and
(C) Additional numbers of magistrates shall be allocated to
the several counties in order of priority claims, beginning with
the largest claim, until magistrates have been assigned within
the limits of this section.
For purposes of this article, a determination made in
accordance with the provisions of this subdivision is the "equal proportion number".
(3) The court shall determine the number of magistrates
elected in each county at the last general election in which
magistrates were regularly elected next prior to the preceding
census taken under the authority of the United States government.
For purposes of this article, that number shall be referred to as
the "election number".
(4) The court shall determine the number of case filings per
magistrate in each magistrate court for the most recent fiscal
year preceding the date of certification, and shall rank the
magistrate courts from one through fifty-five, in the order of
their case filings per magistrate, with the court having the most
filings per magistrate being ranked number one, and the court
with the least filings per magistrate being ranked number fifty-
five.
(5) If the court determines that the equal proportion number
for a county is the same as the election number for such county,
the court shall certify that number as the number of magistrates
to be elected in that county at the next election.
(6) If the court determines that the equal proportion number
for a county is different from the election number for such
county, the court shall apply the ranking established by
subdivision (4) of this subsection and determine the number of
magistrates for such county, as follows:
(A) If the equal proportion number exceeds the election number, the number of magistrates to be elected in that county at
the next election shall be the election number: Provided, That
if the county is ranked as one through five, inclusive, in
accordance with subdivision (4) of this subsection, the court
shall certify the equal proportion number as the number of
magistrates to be elected in that county at the next election:
Provided, however, That notwithstanding any provision of this
code to the contrary, Raleigh county shall have six magistrates
elected.
(B) If the equal proportion number is less than the election
number, the number of magistrates to be elected in that county at
the next election shall be the equal proportion number:
Provided, That if the county is ranked as one through five,
inclusive, in accordance with subdivision (4) of this subsection,
the court shall certify the election number as the number of
magistrates to be elected in that county at the next election.
(c) If the number of magistrates in a county would have been
increased but for the application of the proviso contained in
paragraph (A), subdivision (6), subsection (b) of this section,
and if the county is ranked as six through ten, inclusive, in
accordance with the provisions of subdivision (4), subsection (b)
of this section, then the supreme court of appeals shall provide
for the appointment of an additional magistrate court deputy
clerk for that county, notwithstanding the limitation on the
total number of deputy clerks otherwise provided for under the provisions of section nine-a of this article.
(d) Any magistrate in office at the time of the effective
date of this section shall continue as a magistrate, unless
sooner removed or retired as provided by law, until the first day
of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three.
§50-1-3. Salaries 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-stiered 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: Provided further, That 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-six
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-three 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.