Senate Bill No. 597
(By Senators Chafin and Sharpe)
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[Introduced February 16, 2006; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §7-4-6 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to allowing the Executive Director
of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute to
appoint the Attorney General, or an assistant attorney general
designated by the Attorney General, to serve as a special
prosecuting attorney.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-4-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, REWARDS AND LEGAL ADVICE.
§7-4-6. West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute.
(a) There is continued the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys
Institute, a public body whose membership
shall consist consists of
the fifty-five elected county prosecuting attorneys in the state.
The institute shall meet at least once each calendar year and the
presence of twenty-eight of the fifty-five prosecutors at any
meeting
constitutes is a quorum for the conduct of the institute's business.
(b) There is continued the Executive Council of the West
Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute which
shall consist
consists of five prosecuting attorneys elected by the membership of
the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute at its annual
meeting and two persons appointed annually by the County
Commissioner's Association of West Virginia. The executive council
shall elect one member of the council to serve as chairman of the
institute for a term of one year without compensation. The
executive council
shall serve serves as the regular executive body
of the institute.
(c) There is continued the position of Executive Director of
the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute to be employed by
the executive council of the institute. The Executive Director of
the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute
shall serve
serves at the will and pleasure of the executive council of the
institute. The executive director
shall is required to be licensed
to practice law in the State of West Virginia and shall devote full
time to his or her official duties and may not engage in the
private practice of law.
(d) The duties and responsibilities of the institute, as
implemented by and through its executive council and its executive
director,
shall include the following:
(1)
The provision for Providing special prosecuting attorneys
to pursue a criminal matter in any county upon the request of a
circuit court judge of that county and upon the approval of the executive council;
(2)
The establishment and implementation of Establishing and
implementing general and specialized training programs for
prosecuting attorneys, their staffs and, where determined practical
by the executive council and executive director, all statutorily
authorized law-enforcement or investigative agencies of the state
or its political subdivisions;
(3)
The provision of Providing materials for prosecuting
attorneys and their staffs, including legal research, technical
assistance and technical and professional publications;
(4)
The compilation and dissemination of Compiling and
disseminating information on behalf of prosecuting attorneys and
their staffs on current developments and changes in the law and the
administration of criminal justice;
(5)
The establishment and implementation of Compiling and
disseminating uniform reporting procedures for prosecuting
attorneys and their professional staffs in order to maintain and to
provide accurate and timely data and information relative to
criminal prosecutorial matters;
(6)
The acceptance and expenditure of Accepting or expending
grants, moneys for reimbursement of expenses, gifts and
acceptance
of services from any public or private source;
(7)
The Entering into
of agreements and contracts with public
or private agencies, groups, organizations or educational
institutions;
(8)
The identification of Identifying experts and other resources for use by prosecutors in criminal matters;
(9)
The recommendation Recommending to the Legislature or the
Supreme Court of Appeals of the State of West Virginia
on measures
required, or procedural rules to be promulgated, to make uniform
the processing of juvenile cases in the fifty-five counties of the
state; and
(10)
The development of Developing and maintaining a written
handbook for prosecutors and their assistants to use which
delineates relevant information concerning the elements of various
crimes in West Virginia and other information the institute
considers appropriate.
(e) Each prosecuting attorney is subject to appointment by the
institute to serve as a special prosecuting attorney in any county
where the prosecutor for that county or his or her office has been
disqualified from participating in a particular criminal case. The
circuit judge of any county of this state, who disqualifies the
prosecutor or his or her office from participating in a particular
criminal case in that county, shall seek the appointment by the
institute of a special prosecuting attorney to substitute for the
disqualified prosecutor. The executive director of the institute
shall, upon written request to the institute by any circuit judge
as a result of disqualification of the prosecutor or for other good
cause shown, and upon approval of the executive council, appoint a
prosecuting attorney to serve as a special prosecuting attorney.
The special prosecuting attorney appointed shall serve without any
further compensation other than that paid to him or her by his or her county, except that he or she is entitled to be reimbursed for
his or her legitimate expenses associated with travel, mileage and
room and board from the county to which he or she is appointed as
a prosecutor. The county commission in which county he or she is
special prosecutor is responsible for all expenses associated with
the prosecution of the criminal action. No person who is serving
as a prosecuting attorney or an assistant prosecuting attorney of
any county is required to take an additional oath when appointed to
serve as a special prosecuting attorney.
(f)
(1) The executive director of the institute shall maintain
an appointment list that shall include the names of all fifty-five
prosecuting attorneys and that shall also include the names of any
assistant prosecuting attorney who wishes to serve as a special
prosecuting attorney upon the same terms and conditions as set
forth in this section. The executive director of the institute,
with the approval of the executive council, shall appoint special
prosecuting attorneys from the appointment list for any particular
matter giving due consideration to the proximity of the proposed
special prosecuting attorney's home county to the county requesting
a special prosecutor and giving due consideration to the expertise
of the special prosecuting attorney.
(2) The executive director may also appoint the Attorney
General, or an assistant attorney general designated by the
Attorney General, to serve as a special prosecuting attorney. The
Attorney General, or an assistant attorney general designated by
the Attorney General, appointed serves without any further compensation, except that he or she is entitled to be reimbursed
for his or her legitimate expenses associated with travel, mileage
and room and board from the county to which he or she is appointed
as a prosecutor. The county commission in which county he or she
is special prosecutor is responsible for all expenses associated
with the prosecution of the criminal action.
(g) Each county commission shall pay, on a monthly basis, a
special prosecution premium to the Treasurer of the state for the
funding of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute. The
monthly premiums shall be paid according to the following schedule:
MONTHLY PREMIUMS
Assessed Valuation of Property
of All Classes in the County
CategoryMinimum
MaximumPremium
A$1,500,000,000Unlimited$400
B$1,000,000,000$1,499,999,000$375
C$ 800,000,000$ 999,999,000$350
D$ 700,000,000$ 799,999,000$325
E$ 600,000,000$ 699,999,000$300
F$ 500,000,000$ 599,999,000$250
G$ 400,000,000$ 499,999,000$200
H$ 300,000,000$ 399,999,000$150
I$ 200,000,000$ 299,999,000$100
J
-0-$ 199,999,000$ 50
(h) Upon receipt of a premium, grant, reimbursement or other
funding source, excluding federal funds as provided in article two, chapter four of this code, the treasurer shall deposit the funds
into a special revenue fund to be known as the "West Virginia
Prosecuting Attorneys Institute Fund." All costs of operating the
West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute shall be paid from
the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute Fund upon proper
authorization by the executive council or by the executive director
of the institute and subject to annual appropriation by the
Legislature of the amounts contained within the fund.
(i) The institute shall annually, by the first day of the
regular Legislative session, provide the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance with a report setting forth the activities
of the institute and suggestions for legislative action.
(j) Neither the institute nor its employees acting in their
employment capacity
shall may engage in activities before
governmental bodies which advocate positions on issues other than
those issues consistent with the duties of the institute set forth
in subsection (d) of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the Executive
Director of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute to
appoint the Attorney General, or an assistant attorney general
designated by the Attorney General, to serve as a special
prosecuting attorney.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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