MORGANTOWN — Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of Magistrate Ron Bane’s first day on the job, he released the 2021 quarterly court card — a report showing caseload and trends.
In the quarter ending June 30, Bane heard 92 felony preliminary and extradition hearings, a 31.34% decrease from the first quarter of 2021. Bane held 274 misdemeanor hearings, a 18.21% decrease and 122 civil, a 19.74% decrease.
Overall, he heard 589 cases, or 16.22% less than in the first quarter.
Bane noted that, because the county only has four magistrates, there are times spent on call or vacation which reduce the ability to hear cases.
He repeated a call for a fifth magistrate for the county — a need expressed by many of Monongalia County’s magistrates over several years. The state legislature is responsible for designating the authorized number of magistrates in each county.
“Should Monongalia County get a fifth magistrate judge in the future, court efficiency to schedule cases could be increased by 20 percent. Typically, magistrate court dockets can be scheduled up to eight weeks ahead of time and additional magistrates would open up docket time so scheduling could be separated in those instances where cases must be heard and adjudicated in a timely manner,” Bane said.
The information in the report only covers cases heard by Bane — not by any of the county’s three other magistrates.
The goal of the court card is to engage the public and build a database of the court’s workload to support an increased number of magistrates for the county, Bane said when he released the first one in April.
Some changes were made to the court card with the goal of streamlining the publication.
“When discussing the initial court card format with the public, grouping items like extraditions with felonies, and domestic protective orders and protective safety orders with civil cases seemed to help make it more explainable,” Bane said.
Bane also announced that since his last quarterly report was released in April, he has purchased a home in Westover and moved out of Morgantown.
“I’m just a little further away from the office but conveniently near the main Mountain Line bus depot. I’ll always have fond memories of Morgantown, my hometown, but when opportunity knocks in life, I encourage everyone to answer the call,” he said.
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