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How long should the terms of county commissioners be?

By John Doyle - Report From the Legislature | Jun 7, 2024

Jefferson County now has a chance to elect a majority of its five-member county commission in November.

That rarely happens, because county commissioners in West Virginia serve six-year terms, and the elections are “staggered.” Every two years some are elected, but fewer than a majority. Most counties in our state have only three commissioners. Jefferson and Berkeley are outliers (five each). For the latter two, every general election will see two of the five seats on the ballot. For the other counties, one of the three will be chosen at each two-year election cycle.

Only when a seat has been vacated do the voters have a chance to elect a majority of their commissioners. Because two of Jefferson County’s commissioners have been removed from their seats by the courts, there will now be elections for the remaining years of each of those terms.

Both removed commissioners appealed their removal to West Virginia’s Supreme Court. That removal was decided by a three-judge panel appointed by the high court. Unless the state Supreme Court “stays” their removal, the two seats will be on the ballot in November.

There will not be a primary election. All political party (major and minor) will be permitted to appoint a candidate for each of the seats. The elections for county commissioner are countywide, but each commissioner must reside in a particular magisterial district. The seats that will be added to the ballot are for residents of the Harpers Ferry District and the Shepherdstown District.

The three remaining county commissioners have made temporary appointments to replace the removed commissioners. The geographic rules do not apply to those appointments — temporary appointees may reside anywhere in our county.

Were our county commissioners elected for four-year terms rather than six, every alternate election would give the voters an opportunity to elect a majority of the commissioners. I think this would make county commissions more accountable.

Furthermore, I believe that six-year terms are too long for county commissioners, and that a shorter term would itself increase accountability. I don’t know of any state that provides for the general governing bodies of counties to have terms longer than four years. There may be a few such states, but I haven’t come across them.

The reason for the six-year term is that the county commission was originally a quasi-judicial body, as well as a legislative one. But most of its judicial functions were eliminated about 50 years ago.

About 30 years ago I sponsored, along with then-Delegate Dale Manuel, a proposed constitutional amendment to shorten the terms of county commissioners to four years. It failed. But the people of a county have a mechanism to reduce the terms of their own county commissioners. Ten percent of registered voters may petition the Legislature to schedule a referendum to change county government. That’s the mechanism Berkeley County used several years ago to change from a three-member commission to its current five-member body.

John Doyle is a 26-year former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. He can be reached at rjohndoyle@comcast.net.