COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 25
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Boley,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Finance;
reported February 28, 1995.]
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A BILL to amend article four, chapter seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated section six,
relating to the creation of the West Virginia prosecuting
attorneys institute, its executive council and its executive
director; duties and responsibilities of the institute; the
appointment of special prosecutors to serve in the various
counties where the elected prosecuting attorney in that
county is disqualified from the prosecution of a criminal
case in that county; assessing the cost of the operation of the West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute upon the
various counties; providing a mechanism for county
commission to be exempt from participating; providing for
the termination of the West Virginia prosecuting attorneys
institute; and annual reporting to the Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article four, chapter seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, REWARDS AND LEGAL ADVICE.
§7-4-6. West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute.
(a) There is hereby created the West Virginia prosecuting
attorneys institute, a public body whose membership shall consist
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 a quorum for the conduct of the
institute's business.
(b) There is hereby created the executive council of the
West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute which shall consist
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 as the regular
executive body of the institute.
(c) There is hereby created 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 at the will and pleasure of the executive
council of the institute at an annual salary equal to that
provided to prosecutors in Class I counties as set forth in
section four, article seven of this chapter. The executive
director shall 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) To provide for 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) To establish and to implement general and specialized
training programs for prosecuting attorneys and their
professional staffs;
(3) To provide materials for prosecuting attorneys and their
professional staffs, including legal research, technical
assistance and technical and professional publications;
(4) To compile and disseminate information on behalf of
prosecuting attorneys and their professional staffs on current
developments and changes in the law and the administration of
criminal justice;
(5) To establish and to implement 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) To accept and expend funds, grants and gifts and accept
services from any public or private source;
(7) To enter into agreements and contracts with public or
private agencies or educational institutions;
(8) To identify experts and other resources for use by
prosecutors in criminal matters; and
(9) To make recommendations 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.
(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, 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, 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.
(f) 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.
(g) Commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, 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 (Thousands)
CategoryMaximum MinimumPremium
I$1,500,000 Unlimited$400
II$1,000,000$1,499,999$375
III$ 800,000$ 999,999$350
IV$ 700,000$ 799,999$325
V$ 600,000$ 699,999$300
VI$ 500,000$ 599,999$250
VII$ 400,000$ 499,999$200
VIII$ 300,000$ 399,999$150
IX$ 200,000$ 299,999$100
X -0-$ 199,999$ 50
Upon receipt of a premium, the treasurer shall deposit the
premium 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.
(h) (1) A county shall be exempted from the requirements of
subsection (g) of this section if the county commission of the
county votes on or before the thirtieth day of August, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, to exclude that county from
participation in the West Virginia prosecuting attorneys
institute. On or before the first the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, the executive director of the
prosecuting attorneys institute shall notify each county
commission by registered mail, return receipt requested, that the
county commission will be subject to subsection (g) of this
section if the county does not vote to be exempted. The vote
shall be during a regular public meeting of the county
commission. The meeting shall be scheduled and notice of the
meeting shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of
article nine-a, chapter six of this code. If any county
commission votes to exclude its county pursuant to the provisions
of this subsection the county, its county prosecutor and
assistant prosecutors, and its circuit judges are prohibited from utilizing any of the services provided by the prosecuting
attorneys institute unless those services are paid for by the
county on an actual cost basis, including fees, expenses and
other costs as determined and approved by the executive counsel
of the prosecuting attorneys institute. Nothing contained within
this subsection prohibits the use by a circuit court of the
procedures provided in section eight, article seven of this
chapter if the county commission of the county in which the
subject prosecution has been brought has voted, pursuant to the
provisions of this subsection, to exclude that county from the
provisions of subsection (g) of this section.
(2) After a county commission votes to exempt the county
from the provisions of subsection (g) of this section, it may not
participate in the prosecuting attorneys institute nor be
required to pay the premiums under said section unless the county
commission votes at a later meeting to participate.
(i) The West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute shall
continue to exist until the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, unless continued by an act of the
Legislature. The institute shall annually by the first day of
the regular legislative session provide the joint committee of
government and finance with a report setting forth the activities of the institute and suggestions for legislative action.