SB 181 Text

Senate Bill No. 181
(Senators Kessler, Ball, Dittmar, Hunter, Oliverio, Snyder and
Deem)
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[Introduced January 21, 1999;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article three, chapter fifty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to county courts; and providing for a process of selecting and overseeing deputy sheriffs who serve as court bailiff.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article three, 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 3. COURTS IN GENERAL.

§51-3-5. Attending officer; court bailiffs.

The supreme court of appeals shall not be attended by any sheriff, but every circuit court, county ~~court~~ commission and other court of record of any county shall be attended by the sheriff of the county in which it is held, or a deputy sheriff designated by the sheriff, who shall act as the officer thereof. The sheriff shall select a deputy sheriff to serve as court bailiff. While serving as court bailiff, the deputy sheriff shall be under the direction and control of the circuit court.
The sheriff shall be responsible for scheduling deputy sheriffs to assure the attendance of a qualified deputy sheriff at court proceedings. The court may reject the appointment of any deputy sheriff selected by the sheriff to serve as court bailiff, at which time the sheriff shall select another deputy sheriff to serve.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify the roles of sheriffs and sheriff deputies, as court bailiff in courts of record.

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

This bill was recommended by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary for introduction and passage in the 1999 legislative session.

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