WEST virginia legislature

2022 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 2910

By Delegates Foster, Kimble, Haynes, Wamsley, Kessinger, Espinosa, Kimes, Hardy and Crouse

[Introduced January 12, 2022; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §50-1-2 and §50-1-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the allocation of magistrates serving in each county; setting a standardized formula for magistrate apportionment; providing for adjustment of those numbers of magistrates every 10 years following the census; removing the cap of 158 magistrates statewide; and removing obsolete language.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

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) The number of magistrates serving in each county of the state shall comport with the numbers certified by the Supreme Court of Appeals to the ballot commissioners of each county on or before January 31, 2000 2023, for purposes of the primary and general elections to be held in the year 2000 2024. For all elections after January 1, 2024, the number of magistrates serving in each county of the state shall comport with the numbers established by application of the method set forth in this section.

(c)(1) The Legislature finds that there exists among the various counties large and unwarranted disparities of caseload between the magistrate courts. The Legislature further finds that the disparity causes an inequity with regard to magistrate court resources and the ability of the courts to effectively meet the needs of the citizens of this state who need to avail themselves of this judicial resource. The Legislature further finds that the system currently in place for allocating magistrate court resources which has been in effect since the year 1991 produces certain anomalies which cause quadrennial reallocation of magistrate resources based upon said anomalies which in turn cause a waste of funds, inequitable workloads, unnecessary shifting of resources and confusion among the various counties.

(2) The office of Legislative Services is hereby directed to undertake a comprehensive study of the magistrate courts of the various counties to determine, among other things, the work performed by various personnel in the magistrate court system, how work time is spent by said employees and to report its findings no later than December 10, 2001, to the joint standing committee on the judiciary In order to be fair and equitable in the distribution of such magistrates, magistrates shall be allocated utilizing the following formula:

(A) There shall be at least two magistrates allocated to each county; and

(B) For each 15,500 residents in excess of an initial population of 15,500, an additional magistrate shall be assigned to a county; or

(C) If any county falls below the population requirements set forth in subdivision (B) by less than 7,000 residents and, by result, would be required to reduce its number of current magistrates, the Supreme Court of Appeals shall review the caseload of any such county, including cases handled per year per magistrate and total cases per county. If, in the opinion of the Supreme Court of Appeals, the caseload is sufficient to justify the current magistrate number allocated, then the current number of magistrates shall be retained.

(3) The division of criminal justice and highway safety shall, in conjunction with the administrative office of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, compile for consideration by the Legislature statistical information and documentation regarding caseloads, cases handled per year per magistrate, cases per county, cases per circuit and provide to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates no later than the first day of the 2002 regular session of the Legislature, their recommendations for improving the magistrate process, better utilization of court resources, including, but not limited to, categorizing the various types of cases heard in magistrate court and developing a new weighted formula to evaluate types of cases by the amount of time necessary to bring said cases to a resolution

(d) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the allowable number of magistrates allocated to each county shall be adjusted according to the varying population of each county utilizing the above formula, every 10 years following the decennial census of the United States, in the year following legislative and Congressional redistricting. serving the counties of Berkeley and Nicholas on March 1, 2001, shall be increased by one in each county, effective July 1, 2001. The initial appointment to the position shall be made in accordance with the provisions of section six of this article.

§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 Constitution of the United States;

(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 section 39, article VI, of the Constitution of West Virginia;

(3) The Administrative Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has stated that the utilization of a two-tiered salary schedule for magistrates is no longer 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 7,300 in population and a second tier for magistrates serving 7,300 or more in population is no longer rational and equitable given current statistical information relating to population and caseload; and

(5) That, by January 1, 2017, all magistrates should be compensated equally.

(b) The salary of each magistrate shall be paid by the state. Magistrates who serve fewer than 7,300 in population shall be paid annual salaries of $51,125 and magistrates who serve 7,300 or more in population shall be paid annual salaries of $57,500.

(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.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the amendments made to this section during the 2013 First Extraordinary Session are effective upon passage and are retroactive to January 1, 2013.

(e) On or before July 1, 2013, the Joint Committee on Government and Finance shall request a study by the National Center for State Courts, working in conjunction with the Administrative Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, to review the weighted caseloads in each of the magistrate courts in this state, and present recommendations as to how the present resources and personnel in the magistrate court system could be better apportioned to equitably and timely meet the collective needs of the magistrate court system in West Virginia. Based on the findings and data generated by that study, the National Center for State Courts shall make recommendations as to the equitable redistribution of personnel and resources, by temporary or permanent reassignment, to better meet the needs and weighted loads that are demonstrated to exist in the various magistrate courts in this state. This study shall be presented to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance no later than December 1, 2014, and shall include recommendations and proposed legislation resulting from such study and shall also include a plan to continue the efficient delivery of justice by the magistrate court system and the justification for equalization of pay for all magistrates. As a part of the submitted study, the plan shall consider the reassignment of magistrates or the extension of their duties and jurisdiction to include holding court or delivering services to adjacent counties with higher caseloads, as part of their regular duties, or being on call as needed to serve other needs in other adjacent counties or within the same judicial circuit.

On or before January 15, 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia shall present its recommendations to the Legislature regarding how to allocate or assign a maximum of 158 magistrates throughout this state to improve the magistrate process, and more equitably distribute the magistrate court resources to efficiently and effectively meet the needs of the citizens of this state.

(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, beginning January 1, 2017, all magistrates shall be compensated equally and the annual salary of all magistrates shall be $57,500.

(g) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary, beginning July 1, 2021, the annual salary of a magistrate shall be $60,375, and beginning July 1, 2022, the annual salary of a magistrate shall be $63,250.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish factors by which magistrates are allocated for each county and allow adjustment every 10 years following the census.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.