State Ex Rel. Longanacre v. Crabtree

MILLER, Chief Justice:

In this original proceeding in mandamus, magistrates from Greenbrier, Hancock, Marshall, and Mingo counties claim that the statute setting their salaries, W.Va. Code, 50-1-3, violates equal protection principles. 1 Under this statute, magistrate salaries are set based on the population served. The population served figure is determined by dividing the number of magistrates authorized in a county into the total population of that county. 2 However, there are created certain pay exceptions within the statute which give higher pay to magistrates in Boone, Preston,…