By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Hoping to make the bill more palatable to Democratic lawmakers and fiscal conservatives, the House Judiciary Committee approved changes Thursday to a Senate bill creating an intermediate court of appeals.
The committee recommended Senate Bill 275, creating the West Virginia Appellate Reorganization Act, for passage in a 17-8 vote, but not before approving a committee substitute for the bill.
SB 275 would create an intermediate court of appeals between the circuit courts and the state Supreme Court of Appeals.
The bill, introduced on behalf of Gov. Jim Justice, passed the state Senate 19-15 last week.
The Senate’s version of the bill would create two three-judge panels split between a southern and a northern district. The House Judiciary Committee reduced it to one three-judge panel serving the entire state, though the appeals court would be able to travel around West Virginia to hear cases…
