ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 281
(Senators Manchin, Sharpe, Dugan, Oliverio,
Wiedebusch, Helmick, Ross, Buckalew, Anderson and Schoonover,
original sponsors)
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[Passed March 11, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section fourteen, article four,
chapter twelve of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to audits of
volunteer fire departments receiving state funds or grants
in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars or more;
providing that the volunteer fire department may satisfy
the audit requirement by submitting a sworn statement of
expenditures which is made under oath and acknowledged
before a notary public; filing fees; making it a felony to
file such a sworn statement of expenditures which is
fraudulent; and prescribing criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fourteen, article four, chapter twelve of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. ACCOUNTS, REPORTS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§12-4-14. Audits of corporations, associations or other
organizations which receive state funds or grants.
Any corporation, association or other organization in West
Virginia, whether nonprofit or for profit, which receives state
funds or grants in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars or
more shall file an audit of the disbursement of funds with the
legislative auditor's office. The audit shall be filed within
two years of the disbursement of funds or grants by the grantee
and shall be made by an independent certified public accountant
at the cost of the corporation, association or other
organization and must show that the funds or grants were spent
for the purposes intended when the grant was made. State funds
or audits of state funds or grants under fifteen thousand
dollars may be authorized by the joint committee on government
and finance to be conducted by the legislative auditor's
office, at no cost to the grantee: Provided, That volunteer
fire departments will satisfy the audit requirements of this
section by submitting a sworn statement of annual expenditures
to the legislative auditor's office, along with a filing fee of
seventy-five dollars, on or before the fourteenth day of
February of each year, if such volunteer fire department elects
not to be audited. The sworn statement of expenditures must be
signed by the chief or director of the volunteer fire department, and shall be made under oath and acknowledged
before a notary public. The office of the legislative auditor
may assign an employee or employees to perform random audits of
the disbursement of funds or grants to volunteer fire
departments. Any person who files a fraudulent sworn statement
of expenditures under this section is guilty of a felony, and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one
thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or
imprisoned in the state penitentiary for a period of time not
less than one year nor more than five years, or both fined and
imprisoned.