Tag: Family Court

Senate Moves To Close Adoption Loophole, Upholding Parental Rights

A bill passed by the West Virginia Senate on Friday would close a loophole in the state’s adoption process and uphold parental rights.

A loophole in West Virginia law allows prospective parents to adopt children whose biological parents still have custody claims. But a bill passed by the West Virginia Senate Friday aims to remove this discrepancy before wrongful adoptions occur.

West Virginia parents who lose custody of their children in a circuit court can appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.

However, as the law currently stands, prospective parents can adopt a child while their biological parents are still waiting on a response to their custody appeal.

So far, the state has discovered no instances of wrongful adoption in this manner. Senate Bill 318, which was passed unanimously on Friday, would ensure the custody appeal process has closed before the adoption process begins.

Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, who sponsored the bill, said it would reduce risk for the state and West Virginia families.

Under this bill, adoptive parents must confirm “that the parental rights of one or more of the child’s birth parents have been terminated by final order,” he said. That means the loss of custody was “affirmed on appeal and the time for reconsideration of the decision on appeal has expired,” or that “the decision was not appealed and the time for filing an appeal of the order or orders terminating parental rights of the child’s birth parents has expired.”

“If the Supreme Court, upon review of one of these cases, said it was an error — that the circuit court made an error in terminating parental rights — and the children have already been adopted by another family, that would be a disaster,” he said on the Senate floor Friday.

The bill will now be sent to the House of Delegates for further deliberation.

New Appeals Court Improving Consistency Of Family Law

The new Intermediate Court of Appeals is creating a more consistent family law across the state.

The state’s new intermediate court of appeals has been active for more than a year now, and its effects are starting to become apparent when it comes to families.

Members of the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary heard an update from the new appeals court during interim meetings Monday at the West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling.

Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge Daniel Greear said previously the implementation of family law was inconsistent and varied greatly between circuit courts in disparate counties.

“The circuit courts that heard family law appeals in Mon County might have entirely different conclusions than the circuit courts that heard the appeals in Mercer County. Or, Berkeley County might be different than Kanawha County. And they, in fact, were.” he said. 

The intermediate court began hearing cases in July 2022 after being created by the passage of Senate Bill 275 in 2021. The three-judge panel hears appeals from family courts as well as other issues including civil cases from circuit courts and worker’s compensation cases. 

Greear said before the intermediate court’s creation, appeals went directly to the state supreme court which could not devote as much time to issues of family law. 

“We think that one of the most significant things that’s going to happen, that I didn’t anticipate or realize, from the existence of our court is the development of family law in a consistent manner throughout the state,” he said.

Greear says since its inception in 2021, the intermediate court has more than tripled the number of published decisions on family law from 22 to 65.

Office Of Drug Control Policy May Leave DHHR

Changes may be coming to the Office of Drug Control Policy if a House bill passes the West Virginia Legislature. House Bill 3306 would take the office away from the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and give it new responsibilities.

Changes may be coming to the Office of Drug Control Policy if a House bill passes the West Virginia Legislature. 

House Bill 3306 would take the office away from the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and give it new responsibilities. 

One new duty is the creation of a Sober Living Home Taskforce. According to state surveys, there is an influx of substance use disorder treatment and rehabilitation homes around the state. That growth has prompted a number of related bills and studies. 

Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood, believes the task force will aid in controlling and decreasing what he and others say are a growing number of non-certified, unregulated, sober living homes more focused on making a profit than helping people.

“It’s like Dodge City,” Heckert said. “They do what they want to. Our approval in the house for a task force to study them will help weed out the baddies.” 

The bill also charges the office with developing a strategic plan to reduce the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse and smoking by at least 10 percent but it doesn’t set a deadline. 

The legislation also deems the office must: 

  • Oversee a school-based initiative that links schools with community-based agencies and health departments to implement school-based anti-drug and anti-tobacco programs; coordinate media campaigns designed to demonstrate the negative impact of substance use disorder, smoking and the increased risk of tobacco addiction and the development of other diseases. 
  • Review Drug Enforcement Agency and the West Virginia scheduling of controlled substances and recommend changes that should be made based on data analysis.
  • Develop recommendations to improve communication between health care providers and their patients about the risks and benefits of opioid therapy for acute pain, improve the safety and effectiveness of pain treatment, and reduce the risks associated with long-term opioid therapy, including opioid use disorder and overdose.

The bill passed by a vote of 90 to 4 and now goes to the Senate for consideration.

W.Va. Judges Among Lowest Paid in the Country, Study Says

A state legislative panel is recommending pay raises for West Virginia judges.

The West Virginia Judicial Compensation Commission released its final report on Tuesday and said the state has some of the lowest paid judges in the country.

The report says Supreme Court, circuit and magistrate judges should get 18.3% raises. Supreme Court justices would be paid almost $161,000 under the commission’s recommendations.

The panel is also recommending that family court judges should receive a more than 20% pay increase to bring their salaries up to nearly $114,000.

The commission says the raises would bring West Virginia in line with national pay scales. The last judicial pay increase became effective in 2011.

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