West Virginia 2025 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate 3 R cosponsors

SB 521 — Requiring party affiliations be listed for all candidates

Last action — To House Judiciary

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House of Delegates
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Senate” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

1 added · 33 removed

Plain-language change summary

The recent amendment to Bill SB 521 changes its title and contents significantly by focusing on electoral reforms for West Virginia's judiciary. Notably, it requires that judges and justices be elected through partisan elections and establishes how ballots for these elections should be designed. Importantly, the amendment also repeals the existing public campaign financing program for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, stating that any leftover funds will be sent to the general revenue fund. This shift is crucial as it alters how judicial positions are elected and how campaign financing is managed, potentially impacting judicial independence and funding for electoral processes.

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Previous
Latest
SB521 SFA Tarr #1 3-11Etheredge  7883 Senator Tarr moved to amend the bill on pages 21–32, after the article heading, by striking out all of §3-12-3, §3-12-6, §3-12-10, §3-12-11, §3-12-12, and §3-12-14 and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
SB521 SFAT Tarr #2 3-12Etheredge  7883 Senator Tarr moved to amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting therefor a new title, to read as follows:Eng.
§3-12-1.
Com.
Short title West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Public Campaign Financing Program is abolished;
Sub.
remaining funds to general revenue fund.
For Senate Bill 521—A Bill to amend and reenact §3-1-16, §3-1-17, §3-4A-11a, §3-5-4, §3-5-6a, §3-5-6b, §3-5-6c, §3-5-6d, §3-5-6e, §3-5-7, §3-5-13, §3-5-13a, §3-10-3, §3-12-3, §3-12-6, §3-12-10, §3-12-11, §3-12-12, §3-12-14, §50-1-1, §50-1-6, §51-1-1, §51-2A-5, and §51-11-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to electoral reforms of the West Virginia judiciary;
 This article is known as the "West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Public Campaign Financing Program." Any funds remaining in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Public Campaign Financing Fund following the amendments to this section adopted during the 2025 Regular Session shall be remitted to the general revenue fund.
requiring the election of justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals, circuit court judges, family court judges, and magistrates to be in partisan primary and general elections;
§3-12-2.
establishing ballot design and printing;
Legislative findings and declarations.
requiring partisan ballots be used in judicial and magisterial elections;
[Repealed].
requiring separate nonpartisan ballots be used in county school board elections;
§3-12-3.
repealing the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Public Campaign Financing Program;
Definitions.
and requiring that any funds remaining in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Public Campaign Financing Fund shall be remitted to the general revenue fund.     AdoptedRejected
[Repealed].
§3-12-4.
Alternative public campaign finance option.
[Repealed].
§3-12-5.
Supreme Court of Appeals Public Campaign Financing Fund.
[Repealed].
§3-12-6.
Sources of revenue for the fund.
[Repealed].
§3-12-7.
Declaration of intent.
[Repealed].
§3-12-8.
Exploratory period;
contributions;
expenditures.
[Repealed].
§3-12-9.
Qualifying contributions.
[Repealed].
§3-12-10.
Certification of candidates.
[Repealed].
§3-12-11.
Schedule and amount of Supreme Court of Appeals Public Campaign Financing Fund payments.
[Repealed].
§3-12-12.
Restrictions on contributions and expenditures.
[Repealed].
Show all 53 changed rows (13 more)
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Latest
§3-12-13.
Reporting requirements.
[Repealed].
§3-12-14.
Duties of the State Election Commission;
Secretary of State.
[Repealed].
§3-12-15.
Criminal penalties.
[Repealed].
§3-12-16.
Civil penalties.
[Repealed].    AdoptedRejected
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Action History

  1. To House Judiciary

  2. To Judiciary

  3. Introduced in House

  4. House received Senate message

  5. Ordered to House

  6. Title amendment adopted

  7. Passed Senate (Roll No. 98)

  8. Read 3rd time

  9. On 3rd reading

  10. Floor amendment adopted (Voice vote)

  11. Read 2nd time

  12. Laid over on 2nd reading 3/10/2025

  13. On 2nd reading

  14. Read 1st time

  15. On 1st reading

  16. Committee substitute reported

  17. To Judiciary

  18. Introduced in Senate

  19. To Judiciary

  20. Filed for introduction

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 3 co-sponsors · 148 not signed on · 12 voted No

Sponsors (1)

  • Willis

Co-sponsors (3)

Not signed on (148)

148 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 148 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Passage

Passed 22 Yea · 12 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Republican 191000
Unaffiliated 3000
Democrat 0200
Total 221200
% of votes cast 65%35%0%0%
How each member voted (34)
Member Party Vote
STUART — Yea
BOLEY — Yea
MR PRESIDENT — Yea
Joey Garcia Democrat Nay
Mike Woelfel Democrat Nay
Amy Grady Republican Yea
Anne B. Charnock Republican Yea
Ben Queen Republican Yea
Bill Hamilton Republican Nay
Brian Helton Republican Yea
Charles H. Clements Republican Nay
Chris Rose Republican Yea
Craig A. Hart Republican Yea
Darren Thorne Republican Yea
Eric Tarr Republican Yea
Glenn Jeffries Republican Nay
Jack Woodrum Republican Nay
Jason Barrett Republican Yea
Jay Taylor Republican Yea
Laura Wakim Chapman Republican Nay
Mark R. Maynard Republican Yea
Mike Azinger Republican Yea
Mike Oliverio Republican Nay
Patricia Rucker Republican Yea
Patrick Martin Republican Yea
Robbie Morris Republican Nay
Rollan A. Roberts Republican Yea
Rupie Phillips Republican Yea
Ryan Weld Republican Nay
Scott Fuller Republican Yea
T. Kevan Bartlett Republican Yea
Tom Takubo Republican Nay
Tom Willis Republican Yea
Vince Deeds Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors SB 521?
SB 521 is sponsored by Willis, Chris Rose (Republican), Darren Thorne (Republican), and Jay Taylor (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 521?
This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Senate” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track SB 521?
Track SB 521 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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