H. B. 4735
(By Delegate Webb)
[Introduced February 25, 2000; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article two-a, chapter
fifty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to allowing the
appointment of a person who has previously served as a family
law master as a temporary family law master.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article two-a, chapter fifty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. CIRCUIT COURTS; FAMILY COURT DIVISION.
§51-2A-3. Assignment of family law masters by family court
circuits.
(a) A total of thirty-three family law masters will shall be
appointed to serve throughout the state. The state will is be divided into twenty-four family court circuits with the number of
family law masters allocated as follows:
The counties of Brooke, Hancock and Ohio shall constitute the
first family court circuit and shall have two family law masters;
the counties of Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler shall constitute the
second family court circuit and shall have one family law master;
the counties of Pleasants, Wood, Wirt, Ritchie and Doddridge shall
constitute the third family court circuit and shall have two family
law masters; the counties of Jackson, Roane, Calhoun and Gilmer
shall constitute the fourth family court circuit and shall have one
family law master; the counties of Mason and Putnam shall
constitute the fifth family court circuit and shall have one family
law master; the county of Cabell shall constitute constitutes the
sixth family court circuit and shall have has two family law
masters; the county of Wayne shall constitute constitutes the
seventh family court circuit and shall have has one family law
master; the county of Mingo shall constitute constitutes the eighth
family court circuit and shall have has one family law master; the
county of Logan shall constitute constitutes the ninth family court
circuit and shall have has one family law master; the counties of
Lincoln and Boone shall constitute the tenth family court circuit
and shall have one family law master; the county of Kanawha shall
constitute constitutes the eleventh family court circuit and shall
have has four family law masters; the counties of McDowell and Mercer shall constitute the twelfth family court circuit and shall
have two family law masters; the counties of Raleigh and Wyoming
shall constitute the thirteenth family court circuit and shall have
two family law masters; the counties of Fayette and Summers shall
constitute the fourteenth family court circuit and shall have one
family law master; the counties of Greenbrier, Monroe and
Pocahontas shall constitute the fifteenth family court circuit and
shall have one family law master; the counties of Clay, Nicholas
and Webster shall constitute the sixteenth family court circuit and
shall have one family law master; the counties of Braxton, Lewis
and Upshur shall constitute the seventeenth family court circuit
and shall have one family law master; the county of Harrison shall
constitute constitutes the eighteenth family court circuit and
shall have has one family law master; the county of Marion shall
constitute constitutes the nineteenth family court circuit and
shall have has one family law master; the county of Monongalia
shall constitute constitutes the twentieth family court circuit and
shall have has one family law master; the counties of Barbour,
Preston and Taylor shall constitute the twenty-first family court
circuit and shall have one family law master; the counties of
Grant, Tucker and Randolph shall constitute the twenty-second
family court circuit and shall have one family law master; the
counties of Mineral, Hampshire, Hardy and Pendleton shall
constitute the twenty-third family court circuit and shall have one family law master; and the counties of Berkeley, Jefferson and
Morgan shall constitute the twenty-fourth family court circuit and
shall have two family law masters.
(b) The chief justice of the supreme court of appeals may
temporarily assign a family law master from one family court
circuit to another family court circuit, or a person who has
previously served as a family law master, as caseload,
disqualification, recusal, vacation or illness may dictate. In
each case of temporary assignment, the chief justice shall appoint
only a family law master who is actually serving at the time of
such appointment.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.