Senate Bill No. 358
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President), Wooton, Jackson, Ball and
Bailey)
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[Introduced March 17, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article four, chapter
forty-eight-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing
the annual salary of the secretary-clerk of family law
masters, effective the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article four, chapter forty-eight-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE A MASTER.
§48A-4-3. Compensation and expenses of family law masters and
their staffs.
(a) Prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, a family law master shall receive as full
compensation for his or her services an annual salary of thirty- five thousand dollars.
(b) After the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four, a full-time family law master shall receive as full
compensation for his or her services an annual salary of fifty
thousand dollars and a part-time family law master shall receive
as full compensation for his or her services an annual salary of
thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars.
(c) The secretary-clerk of the family law master shall be
appointed by the family law master and serve at his or her will
and pleasure and shall receive an annual salary of seventeen
thousand five hundred dollars: Provided, That beginning the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, the
secretary-clerk of the family law master appointed by the family
law master
shall receive an annual salary of twenty-three
thousand eight hundred dollars
: Provided, however, That
subsequent to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-three, the secretary-clerk may receive such percentage or
proportional salary increases as may be provided for by general
law for other public employees and shall receive the annual
incremental salary increase as provided for in article five,
chapter five of this code.
(d) A temporary or special family law master shall be compensated by the supreme court of appeals at an hourly rate not
to exceed the hourly rate paid to panel attorneys for performing
work in court pursuant to the provisions of section thirteen-a,
article twenty-one, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
(e) Disbursement of salaries for family law masters and
members of their staffs shall be made by or pursuant to the order
of the director of the administrative office of the supreme court
of appeals.
(f) Family law masters, members of their staffs and
temporary family law masters shall be allowed their actual and
necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
Such expenses and compensation shall be determined and paid by
the director of the administrative office of the supreme court of
appeals under such guidelines as he or she may prescribe as
approved by the supreme court of appeals.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the salary
of the secretary-clerk of a Family Law Master from $17,000.00 per
year to $23,800.00 per year. The total annual cost to the State
for this is $117,320.00 per year on a state-wide basis. Currently
the annual salary of a judge's secretary is $24,204.00 and the
annual salary for a Prosecuting Attorney secretary is $23,300.00.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)
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FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page___, section three, lines ___ and ___, by striking
out the words "appointed by the family law master";
On page ___, section three, lines ___ and ___, by striking
out the words "twenty-three thousand eight" and inserting in lieu
thereof the words "twenty thousand five";
And,
On page ___, section three, lines ___ and ___, by striking
out the words "subsequent to the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-three,".