West Virginia § 55-17-3a Legislature and its presiding officers never to be named as parties to a civil action in court

West Virginia Statutes

§ 55-17-3a — Legislature and its presiding officers never to be named as parties to a civil action in court

West Virginia § 55-17-3a

Ch. 55ACTIONS, SUITS AND ARBITRATION; JUDICIAL SALE

Art. 17PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN ACTIONS AGAINST THE STATE

This text of West Virginia § 55-17-3a (Legislature and its presiding officers never to be named as parties to a civil action in court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

W. Va. Code § 55-17-3a (2026).

Text

(a)Article V of the Constitution of West Virginia provides that the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the government of West Virginia shall be separate and distinct, so that neither shall exercise the powers properly belonging to either of the others.

(b)It is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers mandated by Article V of the Constitution of West Virginia for:

(1)Any court of this state to issue a writ of mandamus, a writ of prohibition, or an injunction against the Legislature; or

(2)Any person to name the Legislature or the presiding officers thereof, in any action challenging the constitutionality of a statute.

(c)Pursuant to the separation of powers required by Article V of the West Virginia Constitution, if any suit is filed seeking relie

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(a) Article V of the Constitution of West Virginia provides that the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the government of West Virginia shall be separate and distinct, so that neither shall exercise the powers properly belonging to either of the others.

(b) It is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers mandated by Article V of the Constitution of West Virginia for:

(1) Any court of this state to issue a writ of mandamus, a writ of prohibition, or an injunction against the Legislature; or

(2) Any person to name the Legislature or the presiding officers thereof, in any action challenging the constitutionality of a statute.

(c) Pursuant to the separation of powers required by Article V of the West Virginia Constitution, if any suit is filed seeking relief under subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section, or if any suit is filed naming the legislature, or the presiding officers thereof, in violation of the provisions of subdivision (2), subsection (a) of this section, the court must, upon motion, summarily dismiss the action, or dismiss the parties improperly joined.

(c) This section shall be applied retrospectively and retroactively to all actions pending at the time of the enactment of this section.