Voters Face Ballot Amendment on Sheriff's Term Limit

When Webster County voters go to the polls for the 2012 General Election, they will have the opportunity to vote on a ballot amendment regarding term limits on the office of Sheriff.

Under present law, a Sheriff can serve only two consecutive terms before they must sit out a term and then they can come back for another two terms.  The term of office for a Sheriff is four (4) years.  Serving part of a four year term counts as one of the two terms under the present law.

The amendment on the ballot attempts to remove any term limit for the Sheriff, which means that if approved a Sheriff can serve an indefinite number of terms.

Vote "FOR" to remove the term limit.
Vote "AGAINST" to keep the current term limit in place.

Here is the actual amendment as it appears on the ballot:

Our opinion:  Vote AGAINST THE AMENDMENT.  Keep the term limit in place.  We can only wish that more political offices have term limits to cut down on career politicians and all the ills that go with entrenched, career politicos.  It should be interesting to voters that the main proponent to lift the term limit is none other than the West Virginia Sheriff's Association.

In the past, West Virginia voters correctly rejected three different attempts to have the term limit removed.  In 1982, 1986 and 1994, voters rejected repealing the term limit: the vote was 64 to 36 percent in 1982, 69 to 31 percent in 1986 and 66 to 34 percent in 1994.  Three strikes and you are out.  This should not even be on the ballot except for some self-serving, politician sheriffs who convinced the likewise entrenched West Virginia House and Senate politicos to put it on the ballot again.