ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 323
(By Senators Bowman and Blatnik)
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[Passed March 9, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section four, article seven, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to authorizing the county
commission of any Class III, IV or V county which will be
reclassified as a Class II county to elect to maintain a part-
time prosecuting attorney.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article seven, chapter seven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR COUNTY EMPLOYEES, ETC.;
COMPENSATION OF ELECTED COUNTY OFFICIALS; COUNTY ASSISTANTS,
DEPUTIES AND EMPLOYEES, THEIR NUMBER AND COMPENSATION.
§7-7-4. Compensation of elected county officials and county commissioners for each class of county; effective date.
(a) (1) All county commissioners shall be paid compensation
out of the county treasury in amounts and according to the schedule
hereafter set forth for each class of county as determined by the
provisions of section three of this article:
Provided, That as to
any county having a tribunal in lieu of a county commission, the
county commissioners of the county may be paid less than the
minimum compensation limits of the county commission for the
particular class of such county.
Class I$20,000
Class II$15,500
Class III$14,000
Class IV$10,000
Class V$ 7,000
Class VI$ 4,000
The compensation hereinabove provided shall be paid on and
after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred eighty-
five, to each county commissioner. Within each county, every
county commissioner whose term of office commenced prior to the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred eighty-five, shall
receive the same annual compensation as commissioners commencing a
term of office on or after that date by virtue of the new duties
imposed upon county commissioners pursuant to the provisions of chapter fifteen, acts of the Legislature, first extraordinary
session, one thousand nine hundred eighty-three.
(2) For the purpose of determining the compensation to be paid
to the elected county officials of each county, the following
compensations for each county office by class are hereby
established and shall be used by each county commission in
determining the compensation of each of their county officials
other than compensation of members of the county commission:
CountyCircuitProsecuting
SheriffClerkClerkAssessorAttorney
Class I$24,200$31,300$31,300$24,200$41,500
Class II$24,200$28,000$28,000$24,200$39,500
Class III$24,200$28,000$28,000$24,200$30,000
Class IV$22,300$24,000$24,000$22,300$26,500
Class V$20,400$22,000$22,000$20,400$23,500
Class VI$17,200$17,200$17,200$17,200$17,000
Any county clerk, circuit clerk, joint clerk of the county
commission and circuit court, if any, county assessor, sheriff and
prosecuting attorney of a Class I county, any assessor of a Class
II and Class III county, any sheriff of a Class II and Class III
county and any prosecuting attorney of a Class II county shall
devote full time to his or her public duties to the exclusion of
any other employment:
Provided, That any public official, whose term of office begins when his or her county's classification
imposes no restriction on his or her outside activities, shall not
be restricted on his or her outside activities during the remainder
of the term for which he or she is elected. The compensation
hereinabove provided shall be paid on and after the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred eighty-five, to each elected
county official.
In the case of a county that has a joint clerk of the county
commission and circuit court, the compensation of the joint clerk
shall be fixed in an amount twenty-five percent higher than the
compensation would be fixed for the county clerk if it had separate
offices of county clerk and circuit clerk.
The Legislature finds, as a fact, that the duties imposed upon
county clerks by the provisions of chapter sixty-four, acts of the
Legislature, regular session, one thousand nine hundred eighty-two,
and by chapter fifteen, acts of the Legislature, first
extraordinary session, one thousand nine hundred eighty-three,
constitute new and additional duties for county clerks and as such
justify the additional compensation provided in this section
without violating the provisions of section thirty-eight, article
VI of the constitution of West Virginia.
The Legislature further finds as a fact that the duties
imposed upon circuit clerks by the provisions of chapters sixty-one and one hundred eighty-two, acts of the Legislature, regular
session, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one, and by chapter
sixty, acts of the Legislature, regular session, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-three, constitute new and additional duties for
circuit clerks and as such justify the additional compensation
provided by this section without violating the provisions of
section thirty-eight, article VI of the constitution of West
Virginia.
(b) Prior to the primary election in the year one thousand
nine hundred ninety-two, and for the fiscal year beginning on the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-two, or for any
subsequent fiscal year if the approval set out herein is not
granted for any fiscal year, and at least thirty days prior to the
meeting to approve the county budget, the commission shall provide
notice to the public of the date and time of the meeting and that
the purpose of the meeting of the county commission is to decide
upon their budget certification to the tax department. Upon
submission by the county commission to the chief inspector division
of the department of tax and revenue of a proposed annual budget
which contains anticipated receipts into the county's general
revenue fund, less anticipated moneys from the unencumbered fund
balance, equal to anticipated receipts into the county's general
revenue fund, less anticipated moneys from the unencumbered fund balance and any federal or state special grants, for the
immediately preceding fiscal year, plus such additional amount as
is necessary for payment of the increases in the salaries set out
herein and related employment taxes over that paid for the
immediately preceding fiscal year, and upon approval thereof by the
chief inspector, which approval shall not be granted for any
proposed annual budget containing anticipated receipts which are
unreasonably greater or lesser than that of the immediately
preceding fiscal year, for the purpose of determining the
compensation to be paid to the elected county officials of each
county office by class are hereby established and shall be used by
each county commission in determining the compensation of each of
their county officials:
Provided, That as to any county having a
tribunal in lieu of a county commission, the county commissioners
of the county may be paid less than the minimum compensation limits
of the county commission for the particular class of the county.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Class I$24,000
Class II$18,600
Class III$16,800
Class IV$12,000
Class V$ 8,400
If the approval set out hereinabove is granted, the compensation hereinabove provided shall be paid on and after the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, to
each county commissioner. Within each county, every county
commissioner shall receive the same annual compensation by virtue
of the new duties imposed upon county commissioners pursuant to the
provisions of chapter one hundred seventy-two, acts of the
Legislature, second regular session, one thousand nine hundred
ninety, and chapter five, acts of the Legislature, third
extraordinary session, one thousand nine hundred ninety.
OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS
CountyCircuitProsecuting
SheriffClerkClerkAssessorAttorney
Class I$29,040$37,560$37,560$29,040$59,500
Class II$29,040$33,600$33,600$29,040$59,500
Class III$29,040$33,600$33,600$29,040$36,000
Class IV$26,760$28,800$28,800$26,760$31,800
Class V$24,480$26,400$26,400$24,480$28,200
Class VI$24,480$26,400$26,400$24,480$28,200
Any county clerk, circuit clerk, joint clerk of the county
commission and circuit court, if any, county assessor, sheriff and
prosecuting attorney of a Class I county, any assessor of a Class
II and Class III county, any sheriff of a Class II and Class III
county and any prosecuting attorney of a Class II county shall devote full time to his or her public duties to the exclusion of
any other employment:
Provided, That any public official, whose
term of office begins when his or her county's classification
imposes no restriction on his or her outside activities, shall not
be restricted on his or her outside activities during the remainder
of the term for which he or she is elected. If the approval set
out hereinabove is granted, the compensation hereinabove provided
shall be paid on and after the first day of January, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-three, to each elected county official.
In the case of a county that has a joint clerk of the county
commission and circuit court, the compensation of the joint clerk
shall be fixed in an amount twenty-five percent higher than the
compensation would be fixed for the county clerk if it had separate
offices of county clerk and circuit clerk.
Prior to the primary election in the year one thousand nine
hundred ninety-two, in the case of a Class III, Class IV or Class
V county which has a part-time prosecuting attorney, the county
commission may find that such facts and circumstances exist that
require the prosecuting attorney to devote full time to his or her
public duties for the four-year term, beginning the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three. If the county
commission makes such a finding, it may by proper order adopted and
entered, require the prosecuting attorney who takes office on the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, to
devote full time to his or her public duties and the county
commission shall then compensate said prosecuting attorney at the
same rate of compensation as that of a prosecuting attorney in a
Class II county.
For any county: (1) Which on and after the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, is classified as a Class II
county; and (2) which prior to such date was classified as a Class
III, Class IV or Class V county and maintained a part-time
prosecuting attorney, the county commission may elect to maintain
the prosecuting attorney as a part-time prosecuting attorney:
Provided, That prior to the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, the county commission shall make a finding, by
proper order and entered, whether to maintain a full-time or part-
time prosecuting attorney. The part-time prosecuting attorney
shall be compensated at the same rate of compensation as that of a
prosecuting attorney in the class for the county prior to being
classified as a Class II county.