H. B. 2546
(By Delegates Kallai, Manuel, Doyle and Nichols)
[Introduced February 17, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article three, chapter
fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to disposition of
costs; magistrate court fund; allowing magistrate court fund
overages to be placed in escrow for the use of magistrate
courts which are underfunded.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article three, chapter fifty of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. COSTS, FINES AND RECORDS.
§50-3-4. Disposition of costs; magistrate court fund.
Except for the funds specified in section four-a, all costs
collected in magistrate courts in a civil or criminal proceeding
shall be submitted on or before the tenth day of the month
following the month of their collection to the magistrate court
clerk or, if there is no magistrate court clerk, to the clerk of
the circuit court along with such information as may be required
by the rules of the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia and
by the rules of the chief inspector of public offices.
There is hereby created in each county a special county fund
designated as the magistrate court fund. No moneys may be
appropriated from the fund except for the purposes provided for
in this section. The clerk shall pay all costs and fees
collected by magistrates into the fund during each fiscal year
until there is paid a sum equal to twelve thousand five hundred
dollars multiplied by the number of magistrates authorized for
the county. All costs collected in excess of that sum during a
fiscal year shall be paid into an escrow account. Upon request
by the county commission, funds from the escrow account may be
disbursed to any county magistrate court fund which generated less than the sum allowed by this section, and not to exceed that
sum when combined with the funds generated by the magistrate
court making the request. Funds received from the escrow account
may be used for facility improvements, security measures or any
other expenses which could be paid from the magistrate court
fund.
A county may, in accordance with the supervisory rules of
the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia, appropriate and
spend from the magistrate court fund such sums as shall be
necessary to defray the expenses of providing services to
magistrate courts.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow magistrate court
fund overages to be placed in escrow for the use of magistrate
courts which are underfunded.
This section has been completely rewritten; therefore,
strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.