Bill Text: WV SB354 | 2012 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Authorizing county commissions appoint temporary successors to certain county officer vacancies
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-02-29 - To House Judiciary [SB354 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2012-SB354-Engrossed.html
ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 354
(By Senators Klempa, McCabe, Wells, Palumbo, Foster and Yost)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 23, 2012.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §3-10-7 and §3-10-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to providing for vacancies in the offices of county commissioner, clerk of the county commission, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, assessor and surveyor; authorizing the appointment of a temporary successor for no more than thirty days from the date of the vacancy; and providing that only one temporary appointment may be made.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-10-7 and §3-10-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. FILLING VACANCIES.
§3-10-7. Vacancies in offices of county commissioner and clerk of county commission.
(a) Any vacancy in the office of county commissioner or clerk of county commission shall be filled by the county commission of the county, unless the number of vacancies in a county commission deprive that body of a quorum, in which case the Governor of the state shall fill any vacancy in the county commission necessary to create a quorum thereof. Persons appointed shall be of the same political party as the officeholder vacating the office and shall continue in office until the next general election is certified, or until the completion of the term if the term ends on December 31, following the next general election: Provided, That in the event a quorum of the county commission cannot agree upon a person to fill a vacancy in the office of county commissioner within thirty days of the date the vacancy first occurred, the county executive committee of the vacating county commissioner’s political party shall select and name a person to fill the vacancy from the membership of the vacating county commissioner’s political party.
(b) Notice of the election shall be given by order of the county commission and published as prescribed in section six of this article. Nomination of candidates to fill the office for an unexpired term in the office of county commissioner or clerk of the county commission shall be made in the manner prescribed for making nominations to fill a vacancy in the office of the clerk of the circuit court.
(c) In the event that the election for an unexpired term is held at the same time as the election for a full term for county commissioner, the full term shall be counted first and the unexpired term shall be counted second. If the candidate with the highest number of votes for the unexpired term resides in the same magisterial district as the candidate with the highest number of votes for the full term, the candidate for the full term shall be seated. The candidate with the next highest number of votes for the unexpired term residing in a different magisterial district shall be seated for the unexpired term.
(d) A county commission may on its own motion appoint a temporary successor until a permanent appointment has been made, but in no event may the temporary successor serve more than thirty days from the date of the vacancy and that only one temporary appointment may be made.
§3-10-8. Vacancies in offices of prosecuting attorney, sheriff, assessor and surveyor.
Any vacancy occurring in the office of prosecuting attorney, sheriff, assessor or county surveyor shall be filled by the county commission by appointment of a person of the same political party as the officeholder vacating the office. The appointed person shall hold the office until the next general election is certified, or until the completion of the term if the term ends on December 31, following the next general election. Notice of an election to fill a vacancy in any of the offices named in this section shall be given by the county commission, or by the president thereof in vacation, and published or posted in the manner prescribed in section six of this article. Nomination of candidates to fill any vacancy shall be made in the manner prescribed in section six of this article for nominating candidates to fill a vacancy in the office of the clerk of the circuit court. A county commission may on its own motion appoint a temporary successor until a permanent appointment has been made, but in no event may the temporary successor serve more than thirty days from the date of the vacancy and that only one temporary appointment may be made.
