§50-1-10. Clerks, Deputy Clerks and Magistrate Assistants to Take Oath and Post Bond
Each magistrate court clerk, magistrate court deputy clerk, and magistrate assistant, shall take an oath of office and shall post a bond in the penalty of $25,000 with sufficient surety approved by the administrative director of the Supreme Court of Appeals or the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge thereof if there […]
§50-1-11. Offices for Magistrates; Location; Expenses; Copy of State Code
Subject to the rules of the Supreme Court of Appeals, the location of offices for magistrates shall be determined by order of the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge thereof if there is more than one judge of the circuit court. When required by geography or population dispersion and in order to […]
§50-1-1. Magistrate Court Created
There is hereby created in each county of this state a magistrate court with such numbers of magistrates for each court as are hereafter provided. There shall be elected by the voters of each county, at the general election to be held in 1976, and in every fourth year thereafter, such number of magistrates as […]
§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 Supreme Court of Appeals shall conduct or otherwise arrange for a caseload study of the magistrate courts of this state for the purpose of determining how many magistrates […]
§50-1-2a. Addition of Magistrate in Berkeley County
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that, according to the statistics compiled by the administrative office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the caseload in the magistrate court of Berkeley County in the year 2020 was as follows: Civil cases: 4,139 Criminal cases: 7,782 Total:11,921 With five elected magistrates in Berkeley County, each […]
§50-1-3. Salaries of Magistrates
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.
§50-1-4. Qualifications of Magistrates; Training; Oath; Continuing Education; Time Devoted to Public Duties
Each magistrate shall be at least twenty-one years of age, shall have a high school education or its equivalent, shall not have been convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude and shall reside in the county of his election. No magistrate shall be a member of the immediate family of any other […]
§50-1-5. Removal From Office; Disciplinary Procedures
A magistrate may be removed from office in the manner provided in section seven, article six, chapter six of this code. In addition to the grounds for removal enumerated in section three, article six, chapter six of this code, a magistrate may be removed from office for conviction of a felony, for conviction of a […]
§50-1-6. Vacancy in Office of Magistrate
Subject to the provisions of section one, article ten, chapter three of this code, when a vacancy occurs in the office of magistrate, the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge thereof if there is more than one judge of the circuit court, shall fill the same by appointment. At a nonpartisan judicial […]
§50-1-6a. Temporary Appointment of Retired Magistrates
(a) The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is authorized and empowered to create a panel of senior magistrates to consist of, and to utilize the talent and experience of, retired magistrates of this state. (b) Senior magistrates recalled and assigned to service shall receive per diem compensation set by the Supreme Court of Appeals, […]