Senate Bill No. 419
(By Senators Humphreys, Dalton, Wiedebush, Chernenko and
Chafin)
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[Introduced February 21, 1994; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL 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 the salaries of
prosecuting attorneys of Class I and Class II counties;
providing that the salaries shall be the same as circuit
court judges; and providing that the salaries of prosecuting
attorneys in all other classes of counties are to be eighty
percent of the circuit court judges' salaries.
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, article seven,
chapter seven:
Provided, That as to any county having a tribunal
in lieu of a county commission, the county commissioners of such
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 January one, 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 bepaid 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:
County Circuit Prosecuting
Sheriff Clerk Clerk AssessorAttorney
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 public duties to the
exclusion of any other employment:
Provided, That any such
public official, whose term of office begins when his county's
classification imposes no restriction on his outside activities,
shall not be restricted on his outside activities during the
remainder of the term for which he 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 electedcounty 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 six 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 six of the
constitution of West Virginia.
(b) Prior to the primary election in the year one thousandnine 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 thecompensation 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 such county may be paid
less than the minimum compensation limits of the county
commission for the particular class of such 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
January one, 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
County Circuit Prosecuting
Sheriff Clerk Clerk AssessorAttorney
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 such
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 ClassV 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 than compensate said prosecuting
attorney at the same rate of compensation as that of a
prosecuting attorney in a Class II county.
Beginning the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, the salary for the prosecuting attorney in
a Class I or Class II county shall be equal to the salary of a
circuit court judge for that county. Any increase in the salary
of a circuit judge in a Class I or Class II county shall require
an increase for the prosecuting attorney in the Class I or Class
II county in an equal amount. The prosecuting attorney in a
Class III, Class IV or Class V county shall receive a salary
equal to eighty percent of the salary of the circuit judge for
that county. Any increase in the salary of a circuit judge in
a Class III, Class IV or Class V county shall require an increase
for the prosecuting attorney in that county equal to eighty
percent of any such increase.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make the salaries of
prosecuting attorneys in Class I and Class II counties equal to
the salaries of circuit court judges; and, that any increase in
the salary of the circuit court judge shall extend to the
prosecuting attorney. It further provides that prosecuting
attorneys in all other classes of counties receive 80% of the
circuit court judges' salary.
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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