The Government of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

is modeled after the

Government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fed ...

, with three

branches A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...

: the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

, consisting of the

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

and the other elected constitutional officers; the

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as ...

, consisting of the West Virginia Legislature which includes the Senate and the House of Delegates; and the

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, consisting of the

West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 ...

and lower courts. The capital and seat of government in West Virginia is the city of Charleston, located in the southwest area of the state.

Legislative branch

Like all states except

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the south ...

, West Virginia has a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gro ...

state legislature, the West Virginia Legislature. The

lower house A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or oth ...

is the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

and the

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restrict ...

is the Senate. The West Virginia Legislature is a citizen's legislature or part-time legislature. The West Virginia Constitution imposes a limit of 60 calendar days the length of the regular session. Regular sessions of the Legislature commence on the second Wednesday of January of each year; following the election of a new governor, the session starts in January with the governor's address but then adjourns until February. The session may be extended by concurrent resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of each house. The governor may also call legislators to convene in

special session In a legislature, a special session (also extraordinary session) is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year (often delayed by conf ...

s whenever the governor deems one or more issues of state government in need of timely action by the Legislature. The final day of the regular session usually includes last-minute legislation in order to meet a constitutionally-imposed deadline of midnight. Legislators usually do not make it a full-time occupation, but frequently hold a full-time job in their community of residence. This differs from neighboring states such as

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to ...

and Ohio, who have professional full-time legislatures. The House of Delegates has 100 members. All delegates are elected to two-year terms and are up for election in even-numbered years, elected from 67 districts that elect a varying number of members.

Executive branch

The chief executive of West Virginia is the

governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

, who is elected to a four-year term at the same time as

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

. The governor is sworn in the January following the November election. A governor may only serve two consecutive terms. A governor may run for a third term, but an interceding election must occur. Democrat

Jim Justice James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 36th governor of West Virginia since 2017. Justice had a net worth of $1.2 billion in September 2018, making him the wealthiest person ...

was elected governor in 2016, defeating Bill Cole in the general election. In addition to the governor, there are five other directly elected executive offices: * Secretary of State of West Virginia (currently Republican Mac Warner) * West Virginia Attorney General (currently Republican Patrick Morrisey) *West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture (currently Republican Kent Leonhardt) *Auditor (currently Republican John McCuskey) *Treasurer (currently Republican Riley Moore) Regular elections are held concurrently with the election for governor every four years, but unlike the governor these offices have no term limits.

Judicial branch

The state trial courts of general jurisdiction are the West Virginia Circuit Courts, There are 31 judicial circuits, each made up of one or more counties, with a total of 70 Circuit Judges. Domestic cases are handled by Family Courts. There are 27 Family Court Circuits with a total of 45 judges. Local judges are elected in partisan elections to serve eight-year terms on a partisan basis. Small claims and misdemeanor case are heard by

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicia ...

elected for four years, with between two and ten in each county, based on population. Magistrates are not lawyers. The

is the

state supreme court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding i ...

. It purports itself to be the busiest appellate court of its type in the United States, in part because West Virginia is one of only 11 states to not have an intermediate

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

. (The West Virginia Constitution allows for the creation of an intermediate court of appeals, but the Legislature has never done so.) The Supreme Court of Appeals has five justices. Justices must have practiced law for at least ten years. The five justices are elected in partisan elections to 12-year terms. The current justices are Justice Evan H. Jenkins, Justice Elizabeth "Beth" D. Walker, Justice Tim Armstead, Justice John A. Hutchison, and Justice William R. Wooton. By tradition, the position of "Chief Justice" rotates yearly. It primarily brings extra administrative duties. Most recently, all members of the Supreme Court were impeache

Local government

In West Virginia, the county (United States), 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 has a ''county commission'', consisting of three commissioners elected for six years but with terms so arranged that one is up for reelection every two years, which is the legislative and fiscal authority. The county commissions were originally called ''county courts'' before legal reform stripped the commissions of their judicial powers in 1976. The county commission still retains the judicial function as the

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

court, however. Other officers are the County Clerk, whose primary duties are as recorder of deeds and voter's registrar; and a Circuit Clerk, who records acts of the Family and Circuit courts, both elected for six-year terms on a partisan basis; the '' sheriff'', who has law enforcement and tax collection authority; the Prosecuting Attorney, who must be a lawyer and who not only handles criminal cases but also does the civil litigation for the county; an Assessor (the Constitution provides for a possibility of two, but no county has ever adopted that system), who determines the value of land for tax purposes, and a surveyor of lands, which has no official duties or salary except when the county commission contracts with the surveyor.https://sos.wv.gov/FormSearch/Elections/Informational/Running%20for%20Office.pdf All of the non-clerk jobs are elected on a partisan basis for four-year terms. The sheriff is term limited to two consecutive terms. 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. There is also a Board of Education, which is elected on a non-partisan basis, consisting of five members elected with overlapping terms similar to the county commission.

References

External links