The City of Shinnston operates under a City Manager Form of Government per West Virginia Code 8-3A-2. Under this plan, the City Manager is the administrative authority and manages the affairs of the city under the supervision of the Council. The Council is the governing body.
On May 12, 2026 the four Ward Council Seats for the City of Shinnston and one of the At-Large Seats-will be on the Ballot to be elected by the registered voters of Shinnston.
The Charter of the City states that a candidate for Council must be a qualified voter and resident of the City and shall hold no other elected office during their tenure on Council. A Council member may not be employed by the City in any other capacity during their term on Council.
Generally, Council terms are four years long. The Council is made up of one representative from each of the City’s four Wards and three members elected from the entire City. When At-Large Council Member Bill Watson resigned, Council made an appointment to fill that seat, so as per the City Charter the remaining 2 years of the At-Large seat will also be on the ballot.
Those persons interested in becoming a candidate for Council must file a Certificate of Candidacy with the City Clerk in the period of January 12, 2026 through January 31, 2026 and pay a filing fee of ten dollars ($10.00) if they want their name to appear on the ballot for the MAY 12, 2026 election. Candidates are also required to keep track of and report any spending they do for the election. Beginning in January, the Certificates of Candidacy will be available at the City Business Office, or they can be downloaded from the Secretary of State’s web site.
These documents must be filled out and notarized and returned to the City Office with the filing fee during the candidate filing period.
At the May 12, 2026 election, the voting public will also consider the question of whether or not to renew the City Excess Levy. The City Excess Levy has been in place since July 1, 2007 and has been used directly and to leverage grant funding for streets, sidewalks, parks, trails and recreation.
The Shinnston City Council meets the second and last Mondays of each month at 7:00 pm in Council Chambers at 43 Bridge Street. Their compensation is fifty dollars ($50.00) per meeting attended with a maximum of one hundred dollars per month. The City Charter can be found at www.shinnstonwv.com under the documents tab.
