H. B. 4634
(By Delegates Perdue, Webster, Poling M., Boggs, Hatfield, Mahan,
Campbell and Brown)
[Introduced February 16, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to AMEND AND REENACT §14-2a-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
new section, designated §15-9-5, all relating to the
redirecting of a percentage of the Crime Victim's Compensation
Fund to the funding of Child Advocacy Centers and the Child
Advocacy Network; and to create a special revenue fund in the
Division of Criminal Justice Services and to establish the
uses of the funds.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §14-2a-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted, and that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §15-9-5, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 14; CLAIMS DUE AGAINST THE STATE.
14-2A-4. Creation of crime victims compensation fund.
(a) Every person within the state who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a misdemeanor offense, other than a traffic
offense that is not a moving violation, in any magistrate court or
circuit court, shall pay the sum of ten dollars as costs in the
case, in addition to any other court costs that the court is
required by law to impose upon the convicted person. Every person
within the state who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a
misdemeanor offense, other than a traffic offense that is not a
moving violation, in any municipal court, shall pay the sum of
eight dollars as costs in the case, in addition to any other court
costs that the court is required by law to impose upon the
convicted person. In addition to any other costs previously
specified, every person within the state who is convicted of or
pleads guilty to a violation of section two, article five, chapter
seventeen-c of this code, shall pay a fee in the amount of twenty
percent of any fine imposed under that section. This is in
addition to any other court costs required by this section or which
may be required by law.
(b) The clerk of the circuit court, magistrate court or
municipal court where the additional costs are imposed under the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall, on or before
the last day of each month, transmit all costs received under this
article to the state treasurer for deposit in the state treasury to
the credit of a special revenue fund to be known as the "Crime
Victims Compensation Fund". All moneys collected and received
under this article and paid into the state treasury and credited to the crime victims compensation fund in the manner prescribed in
section two, article two, chapter twelve of this code, shall be
kept and maintained for the specific purposes of this article, and
may not be treated by the auditor and treasurer as part of the
general revenue of the state.
(c) Expenditure of moneys in the crime victims compensation
fund is authorized from collections.
(d) Moneys in the crime victims compensation fund may be
expended for:
(1) The payment of the costs of administration of this
article;
(2) The payment of economic loss awards approved by the court;
and
(3) The payment of attorney and witness fees, allowed pursuant
to section nineteen of this article.; and
(4) Twenty-five percent of the money collected in the crime
victim's compensation fund shall be directed to the Child Advocacy
Center Fund established in section five, article nine, chapter
fifteen of this code.
(e) The services of the office of the attorney general, as may
be required or authorized by any of the provisions of this article,
shall be rendered without charge to the fund.
(f) Any moneys in the crime victims compensation fund may be
invested as provided in article six, chapter twelve of this code,
with the interest income credited to the crime victims compensation fund.
(g) All funds in the special economic loss claim payment fund
created under the provisions of section twenty of this article
prior to the amendments made in that section enacted in the year
one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine shall be transferred to the
crime victims compensation fund within a reasonable time from the
effective date of the amendments.
(h) All gifts that are received to be used for the purposes of
this article shall be deposited into the crime victims compensation
fund.
CHAPTER 15: PUBLIC SAFETY.
Article 9. GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON CRIME, DELINQUENCY AND
CORRECTION.
§15-9-5. Creation of Fund for Child Advocacy Centers.
(a) All moneys transferred from the crime victims compensation
fund pursuant to section four, article two-a, chapter fourteen,
shall be deposited in a special account in the State Treasury to be
known as the "Child Advocacy Center Fund." Expenditures from the
fund shall be for the purposes set forth in subsections (b) of this
section and are not authorized from collections but only in
accordance with appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance
with the provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code
and upon fulfillment of the provisions of article two, chapter
eleven-b of this code: Provided, That for the fiscal year ending the thirtieth day of June, two thousand nine, funds shall be
transferred from the crime victim's compensation fund available
from the year ending the thirtieth day of June, two thousand eight
and in the same manner for each future year.
(b) Proceeds of the Child Advocacy Center Fund shall be
distributed through the Division of Criminal Justice Services in
cooperation with the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network for the
following purposes:
(1) To provide funding for the accredited Child Advocacy
Centers as established in section one, chapter forty nine of this
code;
(2) To provide funding for developing Child Advocacy Centers;
(3) To provide funds to promote and mentor Child Advocacy
Centers and multi-disciplinary teams defined in section four,
article one, chapter forty-nine in this code through the West
Virginia Child Abuse Network operating as the West Virginia Child
Advocacy Network;
(4) To provide funding for the development of medical response
systems in under-served areas of the state;
(5) To fund special projects determined to promote child
advocacy services in the state; and
(6) To fund Administrative costs of the Division of Criminal
Justice Services limited to no greater than five percent of the
total money transferred.
Note: The purpose of the bill is to create a funding mechanism for Child Advocacy Centers from the Crime Victim's Compensation
Fund. The bill also creates a fund to be disbursed by the Division
of Criminal Justice Services in cooperation with the West Virginia
Child Advocacy Network.
Strike-thought indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.