HB2910 S JUD AMT #1 3-9

Smith  7883

The Committee on the Judiciary moved to amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting therefor a new title, to read as follows:

Eng. House Bill 2910— A bill to amend and reenact §50-1-2, 50-1-2a, and 50-1-13 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the allocation of magistrates serving in each county; requiring the  Supreme Court of Appeals to conduct or arrange for a caseload study of the state’s magistrate courts; requiring the court to enter an administrative order by January 5, 2023, containing its recommendations which allocate no more than 170 magistrates state-wide; directing that any allocation by the supreme Court not reduce the number of magistrates below the allotted number as of the effective date of the 2022 amendments to § 50-1-2 of the West Virginia code; requiring attested copies of the order be provided to the Legislature; authorizing the  Legislature to reject the recommended allocation and allocate the magistrates through legislation; providing that the court’s administrative order be the certification to the ballot commissioners for each county if the Legislature does not reject the allocation;  requiring process be repeated every four years; increasing the number of magistrates in Berkeley County by one, effective July 1, 2022; authorizing Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals to order a magistrate to serve outside the county where elected or appointed on a temporary basis; providing for reimbursement of reasonable expenses; requesting the court to develop a rule for assignment of magistrates to serve after hours or in an emergency on a circuit-wide or other regional basis for certain proceedings;  providing for magistrates authority when presiding in these proceedings and clarifying that proceedings may be held remotely if determined appropriate by the Court.

Adopted

Rejected