Greenbrier County Commission

Greenbrier County WV

The County Commission is the governing body of Greenbrier County. Commissioners serve in part-time positions. Greenbrier County has three commissioners; each serves a six-year term and must be a resident of the county. Their term expirations are staggered, thus, expiring different years.

The Constitution provides certain powers to the County Commission but these powers are limited to "the manner prescribed by law." This means that the County Commissions' powers must be expressly conferred by the Constitution or by Acts of the Legislature. With respect to the powers of a County Commission, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has stated that "a county court (now County Commission) possesses only such powers as are expressly conferred upon it by constitutional or statutory provisions, together with such powers as are reasonably and necessarily implied in the full and proper exercise of powers expressly conferred upon it."

The West Virginia Constitution, Section 11, Article 9, specifically grants the following powers and duties to county commissioners:

1. The custody, through their clerks, of all deeds and other papers presented for record in their counties, with responsibility for their preservation or disposal as may be prescribed by law.

2. The administration of the internal police and fiscal affairs of their counties, with authority to lay county levies, under regulations as may be prescribed by law.

3. Serve as the judge of the election, qualification and return of their own members and of all county and district officers, subject to regulations as may be prescribed by law.