---
type: "Bill"
title: "Amending procedure for filling vacancies in certain county offices having more than three commissioners"
description: "Amending procedure for filling vacancies in certain county offices having more than three commissioners"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 542"
citation: "West Virginia SB 542 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["County Officials"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barrett"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 40
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2024-01-24"
last_action: "2024-04-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f2251600-e58d-485e-bda3-f42ed5ab59e2"
source_url: "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=542&year=2024&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "0c430c00df61ddc52f287f5f85b51a1a0eb2944e8f0bb79a22ced47499edf106"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia SB 542 (2024) — Amending procedure for filling vacancies in certain county offices having more than three commissioners

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb542%20sub1.htm&yr=2024&sesstype=RS&i=542)
2. **Enrolled Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb542%20sub1%20enr.htm&yr=2024&sesstype=RS&i=542)
3. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb542%20intr.htm&yr=2024&sesstype=RS&i=542)
4. **sb542 h jud am _1 3-4 adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/chamber/2024/RS/com_amends/sb542%20h%20jud%20am%20_1%203-4%20adopted.htm)

## Votes

- Passage — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- PASSAGE — **99–1** (pass) · lower
- EFFECT Jan 01, 2025 — **95–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Barrett — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-24** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2024-01-24** To Government Organization `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-24** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2024-01-24** To Government Organization `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-07** Committee substitute reported
- **2024-02-08** On 1st reading
- **2024-02-08** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-09** On 2nd reading
- **2024-02-09** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-12** On 3rd reading
- **2024-02-12** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-12** Passed Senate (Roll No. 117) `passage`
- **2024-02-12** Ordered to House
- **2024-02-13** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2024-02-13** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-04** With amendment, do pass `committee-passage`
- **2024-03-05** On 1st reading, Special Calendar
- **2024-03-05** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2024-03-06** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2024-03-06** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2024-03-06** Amendment reported by the Clerk
- **2024-03-06** Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2024-03-07** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2024-03-07** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2024-03-07** Passed House (Roll No. 554) `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Title amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2024-03-07** Effective January 1, 2025 (Roll No. 555)
- **2024-03-07** Communicated to Senate
- **2024-03-09** House Message received
- **2024-03-09** Senate concurred in House amendments and passed bill (Roll No. 484)
- **2024-03-09** Effective January 1, 2025 (Roll No. 484)
- **2024-03-09** Communicated to House
- **2024-03-09** Completed legislative action
- **2024-03-19** To Governor 3/19/2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-09** To Governor 3/19/2024 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-09** To Governor 3/19/24 - House Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-27** Approved by Governor 3/27/2024 `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-09** Approved by Governor 3/27/2024 - Senate Journal `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-09** Approved by Governor 3/27/24 - House Journal `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-23** Chapter 121, Acts, Regular Session, 2024 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f2251600-e58d-485e-bda3-f42ed5ab59e2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).