§ 44. Powers and duties of municipal judge; maximum imprisonment for violation of ordinance; appeal; expense of maintaining persons committed to county jail.

The municipal judge shall be ex officio a justice and a conservator of the peace, and with authority to issue processes for all offenses committed within the police jurisdiction of the City of Charleston, of which a justice of the peace has jurisdiction under state statutes, and for all violations of any city ordinances, and shall have charge of and preside over the municipal court of such city; and may commit persons charged with felony or misdemeanor to jail or take bond for their appearance before the grand jury of the circuit, intermediate or other courts of Kanawha County; he shall keep an accurate record of all his judicial proceedings in said court, showing the style of each case, which record shall be indexed and numbered. It shall be his duty to hold daily sessions of his said court, Sunday excepted. Before trying any person charged with any violation of any state law or ordinance a warrant specifying the offense or violation charged shall be issued as herein provided and the municipal judge shall render judgment in any case as the law of the state or the ordinance of the city applying thereto may require; he shall also have the power to issue executions for all fines, penalties and costs imposed by him and he may require immediate payment thereof, and in default of such payment, may commit the party so in default to the jail of the City of Charleston or of the County of Kanawha, or other place of imprisonment in said city, until the fine and penalty and costs shall be paid or satisfied, to be employed during the term of imprisonment as hereafter provided, but for violation of any city ordinance the term of imprisonment in any such case shall not exceed thirty days, and in all cases where a person is sentenced to imprisonment or to the payment of a fine of ten dollars or more, such person shall be allowed an appeal from such decision to the intermediate court of said Kanawha County upon the execution of an appeal bond, with surety deemed approved by the said municipal judge or municipal court clerk in a penalty double the amount of the fine and costs imposed by said judge, conditioned that the person proposing to appeal will appear before the intermediate court of Kanawha County on the first day of the next term thereof to answer for the offense wherewith he is charged and not depart thence without leave of the court and to satisfy all costs and fines imposed against him; and in no case shall judgment for a fine of less than ten dollars be given by the municipal judge if the defendant, his agent or attorney object thereto. When the judgment on appeal is against the appellant for any sum of money, judgment shall be rendered by the intermediate court against the appellant and those who signed the appeal bond as surety thereon. Before said municipal judge or clerk shall accept any natural person as surety upon any bond or recognizance under the provisions of this section, such surety shall furnish a certified statement of the clerk of the county court of any county in this state in which such surety owns real estate, and shall also file an affidavit, the form of which may be prescribed by the municipal judge, showing the bonds and recognizances upon which he is then surety and the amount of each bond or recognizance. If the amount of such bond or recognizance, together with other bonds and recognizances as shown by the affidavit aforesaid, exceeds in amount the assessed value of the surety's property as shown by the certificate of the clerk of the county court, of if any such bond or recognizance theretofore given, by such surety be forfeited and unsatisfied, then such surety shall be disqualified; and if any bond or recognizance be accepted and it subsequently appears that the surety thereon is disqualified then such bond shall be declared void by the municipal judge and the person whose appearance in the intermediate court of Kanawha County and whose payment of fine and costs are thereby secured may be forthwith apprehended and held in the city jail until a proper bond or recognizance is given; provided, however, that whenever any surety is offered less than one hour before the county clerk's office is closed or after it is closed, surety shall make an affidavit that he owns real estate in Kanawha County to an assessed value above encumbrances thereon, of at least double the amount of bond required. Any person making or procuring to be made a false statement in any such affidavit, with intent to deceive said municipal judge, shall be guilty of perjury. If such appeal be taken, the warrant of arrest, the transcript of the judgment, the appeal bond and other papers of the case shall be forthwith delivered by the said judge to the clerk of the intermediate court and the court shall proceed to try the case as upon indictment or presentment and render such judgment, including that of costs, as the law and the evidence may require.

On appeals from said municipal court the intermediate court of Kanawha County shall be governed by the same principles with respect to the forfeiture of bonds and recognizances, and the issuance and execution of capiases and writs of fieri facias as prevail in cases in which the state is a party.

The expense of maintaining persons committed to the jail of the county by such municipal judge shall be paid by the city. The municipal judge shall account for and pay over the amount of all fines collected by him weekly to the treasurer of the city and shall make monthly reports thereof, and of all other matters, pertaining to his office to the council of said city.

Editor's note

The first sentence of Charter § 44 is superseded by W. Va. Code §§ 8-10-1, 8-10-2. See W. Va. Code § 8-1-6. Provisions in the second sentence of Charter § 44 referencing violations of state law are invalid, as the municipal judge only has jurisdiction over ordinance violations. See W. Va. Code §§ 8-10-1, 8-10-2. See W. Va. Code § 8-1-6. The provisions of Charter § 44 pertaining to an appeal are superseded by W. Va. Code § 8-34-1. See W. Va. Code § 8-1-6.