COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 699
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Caruth, By Request of
the Executive)
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[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported February 21, 2008.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §4-11B-1, §4-11B-2,
§4-11B-3 and §4-11B-4, all relating to the establishment of
the OxyContin Asset Forfeiture Fund; making legislative
findings; providing that moneys in the fund be appropriated by
the Legislature; limiting expenditures; and requiring annual
reports.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §4-11B-1, §4-11B-2, §4-
11B-3 and §4-11B-4, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11A. OXYCONTIN ASSET FORFEITURE FUND.
§4-11B-1. Legislative findings and purpose.
(a) In two thousand seven, the federal government seized over two hundred seventy-six million dollars in asset forfeiture funds
as part of a multiyear criminal investigation of the manufacturer
of the pharmaceutical drug OxyContin. Over the course of the
investigation, seven sworn members and one civilian employee of the
West Virginia State Police provided invaluable assistance to
federal investigators, contributing four thousand seventy-three
work hours to the investigation.
(b) Property seized as part of a federal criminal prosecution
is frequently shared with those state and local law-enforcement
agencies that made substantial contributions to the underlying
criminal investigation, thereby depriving criminal defendants of
the ill-gotten gains of their criminal activity and returning the
proceeds to those state and local agencies sworn to protect the
citizenry and deter criminal conduct.
(c) The equitable sharing and expenditure of federally
forfeited funds by participating state and local law-enforcement
agencies is extensively circumscribed by applicable federal
guidelines set forth in the United States Department of Justice's
Guide to Equitable Sharing of Federally Forfeited Property for
State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, U. S. Department of
Justice, Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture, March one thousand
nine hundred ninety-four.
(d) In accordance with these federal guidelines, only those
law-enforcement agencies that directly participated in a criminal investigation or prosecution that ultimately resulted in a federal
forfeiture are eligible to receive and administer an equitable
share of the net proceeds of the forfeiture.
(e) In order to receive an equitable share of federally
forfeited funds, an eligible agency is required to submit a request
to the Department of Justice that specifies how the forfeited
assets will be used. Any unauthorized departure from the stated
uses may subject the recipient agency to administrative and/or
legal sanctions.
(f) Furthermore, the equitable sharing of federally forfeited
assets must be used to supplement, rather than supplant, the
budgetary resources of the receiving state or local law-enforcement
agency and the aforementioned federal guidelines expressly
authorize the United States Department of Justice to terminate
sharing with a law-enforcement agency that is not permitted to
benefit directly from equitable sharing.
(g) By virtue of its extensive role in the criminal
investigation of the manufacturer of the pharmaceutical drug
OxyContin, the West Virginia State Police has been designated to
receive an equitable share of federally forfeited funds in the
amount of forty-four million one hundred seventy-six thousand
dollars.
(h) The moneys received shall be used to fund programs of
vital importance to the health, safety and welfare of the people of West Virginia and the Legislature finds that it is in the best
interest of this state to protect these moneys and ensure that they
are expended in accordance with state law and applicable federal
guidelines.
§4-11B-2. OxyContin Asset Forfeiture Fund.
(a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury a
special account, which shall be an appropriated, interest-bearing
account administered by the West Virginia State Police and
designated as the OxyContin Asset Forfeiture Fund.
(b) The fund shall consist of any moneys received by the West
Virginia State Police in accordance with the tenth day of May, two
thousand seven, Agreed Order of Forfeiture entered by the United
States District Court for the Western District of Virginia and the
fifteenth day of August, two thousand seven, United States
Department of Justice's equitable sharing approval, and any
interest or other return on the moneys in the fund. Any moneys
remaining in the account at the end of a fiscal year, including
accrued interest, do not revert to the General Revenue Fund, but
remain in the account.
(c) Expenditures from the fund are limited to those
permissible uses of federally forfeited property expressly approved
by the United States Department of Justice and appropriated by the
Legislature.
(d) Moneys deposited into the fund pursuant to this section shall be spent for the purposes expressly approved by the United
States Department of Justice within two years of the receipt of
said funds.
§4-11B-3. Accounting.
(a) The West Virginia State Police shall implement appropriate
accounting, internal control, financial management, audit,
reporting and reimbursement procedures with regard to the receipt
and expenditure of all moneys distributed to the fund and interest
and earnings thereon in accordance with the provisions of the
United States Department of Justice's
Guide to Equitable Sharing of
Federally Forfeited Property for State and Local Law Enforcement
Agencies, U. S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Asset
Forfeiture, March one thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
(b) Up to three percent of the total asset forfeiture moneys
distributed to the fund may be used by the West Virginia State
Police to cover all reasonable costs incurred in the administration
of the fund and the implementation of the procedures set forth in
subsection (a) of this section.
§4-11B-4. Annual report.
(a) Commencing on the first day of July, two thousand eight,
and annually thereafter until the first day of July, two thousand
eleven, the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police shall
submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the
Speaker of the House of Delegates and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance detailing the amount of forfeited moneys
received, an itemization of all expenditures from the fund, a
description of the authority to make such expenditures and a
description of the law-enforcement activities supported by those
moneys.
(b) Commencing on the first day of July, two thousand eight,
and annually thereafter, the Superintendent of the West Virginia
State Police shall, in accordance with the
Guide to Equitable
Sharing of Federally Forfeited Property for State and Local Law
Enforcement Agencies, U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office
for Asset Forfeiture, March one thousand nine hundred ninety-four,
execute and deliver to the United States Department of Justice an
annual report certifying that the accounting of funds received and
expended from the fund is accurate and in compliance with the
federal guidelines and any applicable laws.