Law and government of West Virginia
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The capital and seat of government in West Virginia is the city of Charleston, located in the southwest area of the state.
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[edit] Legislative Branch
The West Virginia Legislature is bicameral, consisting of the House of Delegates and the Senate. It is a citizen's legislature, meaning that legislative office is not a full-time occupation, but rather a part-time position. Consequently, the legislators often hold a full-time job in their community of residence, as opposed to neighboring states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Typically, the legislature is in session for 60 days between January and early April. The final day of the regular session ends in a bewildering fury of last-minute legislation in order to meet a constitutionally imposed deadline of midnight. During the remainder of the year, legislators gather periodically for 'special' sessions whenever the governor deems one or more issues of state government in need of timely action by the legislature.
[edit] Executive Branch
- See also: List of West Virginia state agencies
The governor is elected every four years, on the same day as the president, sworn in during January. The current governor, inaugurated in 2005, is Democrat Joe Manchin.
[edit] Judicial Branch
West Virginia is one of only a handful of states that does not have a death penalty for any crime.
[edit] The Circuit Court
For the purpose of courts of general jurisdiction, the state is divided into 31 judicial circuits. Each circuit is made up of one or more counties. Circuit Judges are elected in partisan elections to serve eight-year terms.
[edit] The Supreme Court of Appeals
The state's highest court is the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the court of last resort. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the busiest appellate court of its type in the United States. Only 11 states have a single appellate court, West Virginia is one of those states. The state constitution does allow for the creation of an intermediate court of appeals, but the Legislature has never acted upon this option.
The Supreme Court is made up of five justices. Justices must have practiced law for at least ten years. The five justices are elected in partisan elections to 12-year terms.
[edit] Political History
From the 1930s through the 1990s, West Virginia's politics were largely dominated by the Democratic party, and Democrats still dominate most local and state offices. West Virginia also has a very strong tradition of union membership. While the state continued their Democratic tradition by supporting Bill Clinton by large margins in 1992 and 1996, a majority of West Virginia voters supported George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Bush easily won the state's five electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 13 percentage points with 56.1% of the vote.
The most consistent support for Democrats is found in the coal fields of Southern West Virginia (especially McDowell, Mingo, Logan, Wyoming, and Boone Counties), while Republicans find greatest success to the east of the Allegheny Mountains, especially in the state's Eastern Panhandle.
[edit] Local government
As in Virginia, the county is the unit of government, although an unsuccessful attempt to introduce the township system was made in West Virginia's first constitution. Each of the state's 55 counties have a county commission, consisting of three commissioners elected for six years but with terms so arranged that one retires every two years, is the legislative and fiscal authority. The county commissions were originally called county courts before legal reform stripped the commissions of their judicial powers. Other officers are the Clerk of the County Court, elected for six years. The executive authority in a West Virginia county is the sheriff, who is elected to a four-year term for no more than two consecutive terms. Sheriffs with a law enforcement background generally take a more active role in the policing of his or her county, while those that were not police officers tend to focus on the tax-collecting parts of the office by delegating work to the chief deputy. The prosecuting attorney, one or two assessors, and a surveyor of lands are also elected to four-year terms in partisan elections, although they are not term-limited. In addition, there are boards appointed or elected by various authorities and charged with specific duties. They include the local board of health and the board of jury commissioners. Each of the magisterial districts (of which, as has been said, there must be at least three and not more than ten in each county) elects one or two magistrates and constables, and a board of education of five members. The constitution provides that the legislature, on the request of any county, may establish a special form of county government, and several of the larger and more populous counties have special acts.
[edit] See also
- Mountain Party
- List of Governors of West Virginia
- U.S. Congressional Delegations from West Virginia
- List of members of the 78th West Virginia Senate
- List of members of the 78th West Virginia House of Delegates
