CHARLESTON – The state Senate passed a resolution Thursday evening unanimously that would give the Legislature authority to keep an eye on the judicial system’s budget.
The Judicial Budget Oversight Amendment will now head to the House of Delegate, where it will need two-thirds of the votes to pass. It would then go on the November ballot for citizens to vote on.
The oversight resolution was brought about after it came to light about the cost of renovations at the Supreme Court. More than $3.7 million has been spent renovating the justices’ offices, including a couch for Chief Justice Allen Loughry’s office that cost approximately $32,000.
In January, Brian Casto, counsel for the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary, pointed out that West Virginia is the only state where the judiciary enjoys the sort of budget autonomy like this.
Essentially, the separation of powers in West Virginia has been interpreted to mean the court system provides its budget and the Legislature may increase it but cannot decrease it.
The last time the Legislature considered this issue was through a 2016 resolution sponsored by former Delegate Patrick Lane. That resolution deleted a provision that the court’s budget shall not be decreased.