reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
WV Code § 51-2A-9 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-9. Contempt Powers of Family Court Judge

(a) In addition to the powers of contempt established in chapter forty-eight of this code, a family court judge may:(1) Sanction persons through civil contempt proceedings when necessary to preserve and enforce the rights of private parties or to administer remedies granted by the court;(2) Regulate all proceedings in a hearing before the family court judge; and(3) Punish direct contempts that are committed in the presence of the court or that obstruct, disrupt or corrupt the proceedings of the court.(b) A family court judge may enforce compliance with his or her lawful orders with remedial or coercive sanctions designed to compensate a complainant for losses sustained and to coerce obedience for the benefit of the complainant. Sanctions must give the contemnor an opportunity to purge himself or herself. In selecting sanctions, the court must use the least possible power adequate to the end proposed. A person who lacks the present ability to comply with the order of the court may not be confined for a civil contempt. Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, seizure or impoundment of property to secure compliance with a prior order. Ancillary relief may provide for an award of attorney's fees.(c) Upon a finding that a person is in civil contempt, the court, when otherwise appropriate and in its discretion, and as an alternative to incarceration, may place the person on work release, in a weekend jail program, in an existing community service program, in an existing day-reporting center program, in any other existing community corrections program or on home confinement until the person has purged himself or herself of the contempt.
WV Code § 51-2A-10 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-10. Motion for Reconsideration of Family Court Order

(a) Any party may file a motion for reconsideration of a temporary or final order of the family court for the following reasons: (1) Mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect or unavoidable cause; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been available at the time the matter was submitted to the court for decision; (3) fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) clerical or other technical deficiencies contained in the order; or (5) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the order.(b) A motion for reconsideration must be filed with the clerk of the circuit court within a reasonable time and for reasons set forth in subdivision (1), (2) or (3), subsection (a) of this section, not more than one year after the order was entered and served on the other party in accordance with rule 5 of the rules of civil procedure. The family court must enter an order ruling on the motion within thirty days of the date of the filing of the motion.
WV Code § 51-2A-11 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-11. Petition for Appeal

(a) Within thirty days following the entry of a final order of a family court judge or the entry of a final order of any senior status circuit judge, circuit judge or other judicial officer appointed to serve pursuant to the provisions of section nineteen of this article, any party may file a petition for appeal with the circuit court. No appeal may be had under the provisions of this article from any order of a family court judge or from any order of another judicial officer temporarily serving as a family court judge other than a final order.(b) A petition for appeal of a final order of the family court shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court. At the time of filing the petition, a copy of the petition for appeal must be served on all parties to the proceeding in the same manner as pleadings subsequent to an original complaint are served under rule 5 of the rules of civil procedure.(c) The circuit judge may require, or a party may choose to submit with the petition for appeal, a brief in support of the petition.(d) A respondent shall have fifteen days after the filing of a petition to file a reply to the petition for appeal. The reply must be served on all parties to the proceeding in the same manner required for service of the petition. The circuit judge may require, or a party may choose to submit with the reply, a brief in opposition to the petition.(e) In addition to the reply, the respondent may file a cross-petition to the petition for appeal within fifteen days after the filing of the petition. The respondent to the cross-petition shall have fifteen days after the filing of the cross-petition to file a reply. The cross-petition and any reply must be served in the same manner required for service of the original petition. The circuit judge may require or either party may choose to submit a brief on the cross-petition.(f) The Supreme Court of Appeals shall develop and provide forms for appeals filed pursuant to this section. The forms shall be made available for distribution in the offices of the clerks of the circuit courts and in the offices of the secretary-clerks to the family court judges.(g) The Supreme Court of Appeals shall promulgate a supervisory rule setting forth educational requirements in domestic relations matters for circuit court judges.(h) An appeal from the final order of any judicial officer assigned or appointed pursuant to the provisions of section nineteen of this article shall be perfected and treated in all respects as an appeal from an order of the family court. The terms "family court" or "family court judge" as provided in this section and in sections twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen of this article mean the judicial officer who entered the final order which is the subject of an appeal.
WV Code § 51-2A-12 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-12. Stay of Proceedings Pending Appeal

(a) Any person desiring to file a petition for appeal from a final order of the family court may file a motion for a stay of proceedings to the family court in which the order was entered. The motion for a stay shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court and served on the respondent in accordance with rule 5 of the rules of civil procedure. The family court may, sua sponte, order a stay of all or part of a final order pending appeal. Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the family court may order a stay for the period of time allowed for the filing of a petition for appeal to the circuit court or for any additional period of time pending disposition of the appeal. If the circuit court refuses to consider the petition for appeal, the stay is vacated.(b) If the family court judge denies a motion for a stay of the proceedings pending appeal, or if the relief afforded is not acceptable, the person desiring to file the petition for appeal may file a motion for a stay of the proceedings to the circuit court. The motion for stay shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court and served upon the other party in accordance with rule 5 of the rules of civil procedure. Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the circuit court may order a stay for the period of time allowed for the filing of a petition for appeal to the circuit court or for any additional period of time pending disposition of the appeal. If the circuit court refuses to consider the petition for appeal, the stay is vacated.(c) An order granting a motion for a stay under the provisions of this section may not include a stay of an award for the payment of spousal support or child support pending the appeal, except that an award of past-due child support may be stayed pending an appeal.
WV Code § 51-2A-13 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-13. Motion to Dismiss Appeal

At any time following the filing of a petition for appeal of a final order of a family court, either party may move the circuit court to dismiss the appeal on any of the following grounds: (1) A joint agreement of the parties to the dismissal; (2) failure to properly perfect the appeal; (3) failure to obey an order of the family court or circuit court; (4) lack of an appealable order; or (5) lack of jurisdiction. Such motion shall be filed with the clerk of the circuit court and served on the respondent in accordance with rule 5 of the rules of civil procedure. No oral argument shall be held on such motion unless requested by the court.
WV Code § 51-2A-14 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-14. Review by Circuit Court; Record; Standard of Review; Temporary Order Upon Demand

(a) The circuit court may refuse to consider the petition for appeal may affirm or reverse the order, may affirm or reverse the order in part or may remand the case with instructions for further hearing before the family court judge.(b) In considering a petition for appeal, the circuit court may only consider the record as provided in subsection (d), section eight of this article.(c) The circuit court shall review the findings of fact made by the family court judge under the clearly erroneous standard and shall review the application of law to the facts under an abuse of discretion standard.(d) If the circuit court agrees to consider a petition for appeal, the court shall provide the parties an opportunity to appear for oral argument, upon the request of either party or in the discretion of the court. The provisions of this subsection are effective until the adoption of rules by the Supreme Court of Appeals governing the appellate procedures of family courts.(e) If the proceeding is remanded to the family court, the circuit court must enter appropriate temporary orders for a parenting plan or other allocation of custodial responsibility or decision-making responsibility for a child, child support, spousal support or such other temporary relief as the circumstances of the parties may require. If the circuit court remands the case to the family court, it must state the legal or factual issues to be considered by the family court on remand. If the family court determines that the consideration of those issues also requires consideration of collateral or interdependent issues, the family court may also consider those other collateral or interdependent issues.(f) The circuit court must enter an order ruling on a petition for appeal within sixty days from the last day a reply to the petition for appeal could have been filed. If the circuit court does not enter the order within the sixty-day period or does not, within the sixty-day period, enter an order stating just cause why the order has not been timely entered, the circuit clerk shall send a written notice to the parties that unless the parties both file an objection within fourteen days of the date of the notice, the appeal will be transferred to the Supreme Court of Appeals as provided in section fifteen of this article due to the failure of the circuit court to timely enter an order. The appeal shall be transferred without the necessity of the filing of any petition or further document by the petitioner.
WV Code § 51-2A-15 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-15. Review by Supreme Court of Appeals; Assistance for Pro Se Appellants

(a) If both of the parties file, either jointly or separately, within fourteen days following the entry of the final order of a family court judge, a notice of intent to file an appeal from the final order of the family court directly to the Supreme Court of Appeals and to waive their right to file a petition for appeal with the circuit court, the petition for appeal of the final order of the family court may be filed with the Supreme Court of Appeals in accordance with the provisions of article five, chapter fifty-eight of this code and the rules of appellate procedure, except that the standard of review for any such appeal is the same as set forth in subsection (b), section fourteen of this article.(b) If a circuit court judge refuses to consider a petition for appeal or if a party is adversely affected by the order entered by the circuit court upon review of the final order of the family court, the party may seek review of the order of the circuit court by the Supreme Court of Appeals. If a petition for appeal to the circuit court is transferred to the Supreme Court of Appeals pursuant to the provisions of subsection (d), section fourteen of this article, the petition for appeal filed in the circuit court will be considered as a petition for appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to hear and entertain an appeal from an order of a circuit court or the transfer of an appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals as provided in this article in the same manner provided for civil appeals in article five, chapter fifty-eight of this code and in the rules of appellate procedure, except that the standard of review for any such appeal is the same as set forth in subsection (b), section fourteen of this article.(c) The Supreme Court of Appeals shall promulgate rules to assist pro se litigants in the filing and processing of family court appeals to the circuit court and to the supreme court. Such rules may address, but are not limited to, expedited means of transcribing family court records, use of asynchronous data communication network or other alternate forms of transmission for conducting appellate hearings, alternate requirements for the number of copies to be provided to the Supreme Court of Appeals and other appropriate measures which will provide meaningful appellate access to the courts pursuant to section seventeen, article III of the West Virginia Constitution.
WV Code § 51-2A-16 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-16. Expiration of Appellate Procedures; Exceptions; Report Requirements

(a) The provisions of sections eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen of this article shall expire and be of no force and effect after June 30, 2011, except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of this section.(b) Appeals that are pending before a circuit court or the Supreme Court of Appeals on June 30, 2011, but not decided before July 1, 2011, shall proceed to resolution in accordance with the provisions of sections eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen of this article, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section that provide for the expiration of those sections. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall, by rule, provide procedures for those appeals that are remanded but not concluded prior to July 1, 2011, in the event that the appeals process set forth in sections eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen of this article is substantially altered as of July 1, 2011.(c) Prior to the 2011 regular session of the Legislature and annually thereafter, the Supreme Court of Appeals shall provide a detailed report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance the number of appeals from final orders of the family court filed in the various circuit courts and in the Supreme Court of Appeals, the number of pro se appeals filed, the subject matter of the appeals, the time periods in which appeals are concluded, the number of cases remanded upon appeal, recommendations and supporting data on the feasibility, need and effect of creating an intermediate appellate court or other system of appellate procedure for family court matters and such other detailed information so as to enable the Legislature to study the appellate procedures for family court matters and to consider the possible necessity and feasibility of creating an intermediate appellate court or other system of appellate procedure.(d) The amendments to this section in the second extraordinary session of the Legislature in 2010 shall apply retroactively so that the provisions of sections eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen of this article shall be construed as if they did not expire after June 30, 2010.
WV Code § 51-2A-17 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-17. Disciplinary Proceedings for Family Court Judges

A family court judge may be censured, temporarily suspended or retired as provided for in section eight, article VIII of the West Virginia Constitution. A family court judge may be removed from office only by impeachment in accordance with the provisions of section nine, article IV of the West Virginia Constitution.
WV Code § 51-2A-18 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-18. Vacancy in the Office of Family Court Judge

If a vacancy occurs in the office of family court judge, the Governor shall fill the vacancy by appointment as provided in section three, article ten, chapter three of this code.
WV Code § 51-2A-19 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-19. Temporary Assignment of Family Court Judges

(a) Upon the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of family court judge, the disqualification of a family court judge or the inability of a family court judge to attend to his or her duties because of illness, temporary absence or any other reason, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals may assign the family court judge of any other family court circuit, or any senior status circuit judge or circuit judge of any judicial circuit, to hear and determine any and all matters then or thereafter pending in the family court to which the family court judge is assigned. While so assigned, the family court judge, senior status circuit judge or circuit judge has all of the powers of the regularly elected family court judge of the family court circuit.(b) When, in the discretion of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, the urgency or volume of cases in a family court circuit so requires, the chief justice may assign a senior status circuit judge, a circuit judge of any judicial circuit or a family court judge of any family court division to serve temporarily in a family court circuit. When a senior status circuit judge or other circuit judge is so assigned, he or she has all of the powers of a regularly elected family court judge.(c) The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals may appoint a person who has previously served as a family law master or family court judge to serve as a temporary family court judge as disqualification, recusal, vacation, illness or the ends of justice may dictate.(d) The Supreme Court of Appeals shall promulgate a supervisory rule setting forth educational requirements for persons assigned to serve temporarily as family court judges pursuant to the provision of this section.
WV Code § 51-2A-20 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-20. County Commissions Required to Furnish Offices for the Family Court Judges

Each county commission of this state has a duty to provide premises for the family court which are adequate for the conduct of the duties required of the court under the provisions of this article and of chapter forty-eight of this code and which conform to standards established by rules promulgated by the Supreme Court of Appeals. The administrative office of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall pay to the county commission a reasonable amount as rent for the premises furnished by the county commission to the family court and his or her staff pursuant to the provisions of this section.
WV Code § 51-2A-21 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-21. Budget of the Family Court

The budget for the payment of the salaries and benefits of the family court judges and clerical and secretarial assistants shall be included in the appropriation for the Supreme Court of Appeals. The family court administration fund, heretofore created as the family law master administration fund, is continued as a special account in the state Treasury. The fund shall operate as a special fund administered by the State Auditor which shall be appropriated by line item by the Legislature for payment of administrative expenses of family courts. All agencies or entities receiving federal matching funds for the services of family court judges and their staff, including, but not limited to, the commissioner of the Bureau for Child Support enforcement and the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, shall enter into an agreement with the administrative office of the Supreme Court of Appeals whereby all federal matching funds paid to and received by said agencies or entities for the activities by family court judges and the program staff shall be paid into the family court administration fund. Said agreement shall provide for advance payments into the fund by such agencies, from available federal funds pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act and in accordance with federal regulations.
WV Code § 51-2A-22 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-22. Family Court Fund

The office and the clerks of the circuit courts shall, on or before the tenth day of each month, transmit all amounts directed to be paid to the family court fund under any provision of this code to the state Treasurer for deposit in the state Treasury to the credit of a special revenue fund known as the "family court fund" and created by prior enactment of former section twenty-three, article four, chapter forty-eight-a of this code. All moneys paid into the state Treasury and credited to the "family court fund" shall be used by the administrative office of the Supreme Court of Appeals solely for paying the costs associated with the duties imposed upon the family courts under the provisions of this article or under chapter forty-eight of this code which require activities by the family court judges or members of their staff which are not subject to being matched with federal funds or subject to reimbursement by the federal government. Such moneys shall not be treated by the Auditor and treasurer as part of the general revenue of the state. Expenditures from the fund shall be for the purposes set forth in this section and are not authorized from collections but are to be made only in accordance with appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon the fulfillment of the provisions set forth in article two, chapter five-a of this code: Provided, That for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, expenditures are authorized from collections rather than pursuant to an appropriation by the Legislature.
WV Code § 51-2A-23 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 51. Courts and Their Officers|Article 2A. Family Courts|§51-2A-23. Operative Dates; Terminology

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of Enrolled Senate Bill No. 5007, passed during the fifth extraordinary session of the 2001 Legislature, become operable on January 1, 2002. It is intended that the family law master system in existence on July 1, 2001, will continue to function under the prior enactment of this article, notwithstanding the passage of Enrolled Senate Bill No. 5007, until January 1, 2002, when the existing family law master system is replaced with the system of family court judges provided for in this article.(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the provisions of section five of this article providing for the initial appointment of family judges by the Governor become operable on October 1, 2001.(c) After the effective date of this article, whenever the terms "master", "law master" or "family law master" appear in this code, the terms shall have the same meaning as "family court judge."