The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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November 16, 2009

Study: State needs new appeals court

By the Associated Press

CHARLESTON — West Virginia needs a midlevel appeals court, and should offer public funding to candidates for one of the two state Supreme Court seats up in 2012, a study commissioned by Gov. Joe Manchin has concluded.

But beyond that pilot funding program and allowing the governor to appoint the new court’s initial judges, the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform does not recommend any major changes to how the state elects its judges and justices through partisan balloting.

It instead urges state lawmakers to wait until the terms of those appointees expire before deciding a permanent selection method. The Legislature should also adopt into law the informal practice of Manchin and his recent predecessors, where advisory committees recommend nominees when judicial vacancies arise, it said.

The commission’s 47-page report notes parallels between that process and the “merit selection” method. Seen in other states, the governor picks from committee-supplied names and then voters decide whether to retain those appointees.

A recent State Bar review had found that about 45 percent of West Virginia’s circuit judges had been appointed and then won election to keep the seat.

“As a result, it must be emphasized that at present the State of West Virginia does indeed have a ’merit selection’ process for judges, one that — although formally reserved for filling vacancies on the bench — is utilized with nearly as much frequency as the traditional election process itself,” said the study report, submitted to Manchin over the weekend.

The report also recommends that the secretary of state publish voter guides on judicial candidates; that the Legislature continue efforts to regulate independent spending in their races; and that the state study a special court for complex, highly technical disputes between businesses.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor served as the commission’s nonvoting honorary chair. None of the findings, including the creation of a new appeals court, would require constitutional amendments, according to the report.

The public financing pilot project would rely on court filing fees and other revenue to raise up to $2 million annually.

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