H. B. 4745
(By Delegates Trump and Doyle)
[Introduced February 25, 2000; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article two-a, chapter
fifty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing that
some judicial officers be elected on a nonpartisan basis.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, 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-5. Term of office of family law master; elections.
(a) Before the first day of September, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-nine, family law masters shall be appointed to serve
in the family court circuits as provided for in section three of
this article. The initial term of office for the family law masters first appointed shall commence on the first day of October,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, and end on the thirty-first
day of December, two thousand two.
(b) Beginning with the primary and general elections to be
conducted in the year two thousand two, family law masters shall be
elected on a nonpartison ballot at the general election held in
November. In family court circuits having two or more family law
masters there shall be, for election purposes, numbered divisions
corresponding to the number of family law masters in each area.
Each family law master shall be elected at large by the entire
family court area. In each numbered division of a judicial
circuit, 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 family court area. The candidate or
candidates receiving the highest number of the votes cast within a
numbered division shall be nominated or elected, as the case may
be.
(c) The term of office for all family law masters elected in
two thousand two shall be for four years, commencing on the first
day of January, two thousand three, and ending on the thirty-first
day of December, two thousand six. Subsequent terms of office for
family law masters elected thereafter shall be for four years.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
nonpartison election of some judicial officers.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.