Introduced Version
House Bill 2290 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2290
(By Delegates Proudfoot and Manuel)
[Introduced February 25, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring county
courthouses to be open on one evening each week unless they
are open on Saturdays.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, chapter seven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. COUNTY PROPERTY.
§7-3-2. Courthouse, jail and offices.
The county commission of every county, at the expense of the
county, shall provide at the county seat thereof a suitable
courthouse and jail, together with suitable offices for the judge
of the circuit court and judges of courts of limited
jurisdiction, clerks of circuit courts, courts of limited
jurisdiction and of the county commission, assessor, sheriff,
prosecuting attorney, county superintendent of schools, andsurveyor, and all other offices as are or may be required by law:
Provided,
That the courthouse, including any annex or other
facility housing the courts and offices herein set out (excepting
all facilities that are on a twenty-four-hour basis), shall be
open to the public Monday through Friday during the hours
prescribed by the county commission by an order duly recorded in
the order book of the commission. The county commission in such
that order may, in its discretion, provide that the courthouse,
including any annex or other facility housing the courts and
offices herein set out, be open on Saturday and prescribe the
hours during which it shall be open. The county commission
shall, however, in that order, provide that the courthouse,
including any annex or other facility housing the courts and
offices herein set out, be open on one evening each week until
seven o'clock post meridian:
Provided, however,
That any county
commission that has prescribed Saturday openings for the
courthouse, annex or other facility housing the courts and
offices herein set out, is not required to be open evenings. The
county commission shall post the times that the courthouse, annex
and other facility housing the courts and offices herein set out
is open during the week on the front door of each facility. In
no case may the county commission provide that the courthouse,
including any annex or other facility housing the courts and
offices herein set out, be open for business on Sundays or
national or state holidays:
Provided however further, That the
county commission of every county having a population in excess
of two hundred thousand may provide at the county seat or
elsewhere in the county, as the county commission shall determine, a suitable jail or jails:
And provided further,
That
the county commission of any county, regardless of population,
may, as provided in article twenty-three, chapter eight of the
code of West Virginia, contract with the county commissions of
one or more other counties within this state for the erection,
construction, equipment, leasing and renting of a regional
correctional center for either adult or youth offenders, at a
location mutually agreeable to the contracting parties and not
necessarily at the county seat, which will serve each county
entering into the contract. The county commission shall keep the
courthouse, jail and other offices in constant and adequate
repair, and supplied with the necessary heat, light, furniture,
record books, and janitor service, and, except as to the office
for the judge of the circuit court, with the necessary
stationery and postage, and other things as shall be necessary;
but all of the public records, books and papers belonging or
appertaining to the county surveyor's office shall be delivered
to the clerk of the county commission and retained by him in his
official possession and under his control and shall constitute a
part of the public records, books and papers of his office. All
courthouses, jails and offices hereafter erected shall be built
of stone and brick, or stone or brick, or other equally fireproof
materials, and the offices shall be fireproof or be furnished
with fireproof vaults or safes. The jails shall be well secured,
and sufficient for the convenient accommodation of those who may
be confined therein. The county commission may also provide
other necessary offices and buildings, and may, by purchase or
otherwise, acquire as much land as may be requisite or desirablefor county purposes, and may suitably enclose, improve and
embellish the lands so acquired.
Subject to the conditions hereinabove set forth with respect
to the site of the courthouse, jail, and other offices, the
commission may, from time to time, as may seem to it proper,
provide, at the expense of the county, a new or other building or
buildings to be used for the courthouse and jail, or for either,
together with suitable offices, as aforesaid, and for that
purpose may acquire, by purchase or otherwise, and hold any
lands, or lands and buildings, which may be necessary, and may
enclose, improve and embellish the same. When any new or other
building or buildings shall be ready for occupancy, the county
commission shall make an order declaring that, on a day to be
therein named, the new or other building or buildings shall
become the courthouse, or jail, or both the courthouse and jail
of the county, and shall cause copies of the order to be posted
at the front door of the new as well as of the old courthouse, at
least twenty days before the day named in the order; and on and
after the day named the new or other building or buildings shall
become, respectively, the courthouse, or jail, or both the
courthouse and jail of the county in all respects and for all
purposes. After the change shall have been made the county
commission may sell or otherwise dispose of, as may seem to it
proper, the building or buildings previously used as a courthouse
and jail, or either, and the land on which they are, or either
is, situated, and of the interest of the county therein.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, any county commission providing and maintaining a jailon the effective date of this article shall not be required to
provide and maintain a jail after a regional jail becomes
available pursuant to the provisions of article twenty, chapter
thirty-one of this code, unless the county commission determines
that such a facility is necessary:
Provided,
That such county
commission may provide and maintain a holding facility which
complies with the standards set forth for such holding facilities
in legislative rules promulgated by the jail and correctional
facility standards commission or its predecessor, the jail and
prison standards commission.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make the county
courthouses more accessible to the public by requiring the
courthouse to be open on one evening each week or on Saturday.