Senate Bill No. 390
(By Senators Buckalew, Bowman, Kimble, Boley and Minear)
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[Introduced February 16, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article four, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring
prosecuting attorneys to provide legal assistance to all
law-enforcement officers throughout criminal investigations;
and providing that prosecuting attorneys receive immunity
from civil liability relative to the legal assistance they
render to police officers during investigations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article four, chapter seven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, REWARDS AND LEGAL ADVICE.
§7-4-1. Duties of prosecuting attorney; further duties upon
request of attorney general.
It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney to attend to the criminal business of the state in the county in which he
is elected and qualified, and when he has information of the
violation of any penal law committed within such county, he shall
institute and prosecute all necessary and proper proceedings
against the offender, and may in such case issue or cause to be
issued a summons for any witness he may deem material. Every
public officer shall give him information of the violation of any
penal law committed within his county. It shall also be the duty
of the prosecuting attorney to attend to civil suits in such
county in which the state, or any department, commission or board
thereof, is interested, and to advise, attend to, bring,
prosecute or defend, as the case may be, all matters, actions,
suits and proceedings in which such county or any county board of
education is interested.
It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney to keep his
office open in the charge of a responsible person during the
hours polls are open on general, primary and special county-wide
election days, and the prosecuting attorney, or his assistant, if
any, shall be available for the purpose of advising election
officials. It shall be the further duty of the prosecuting
attorney, when requested by the attorney general, to perform or
to assist the attorney general in performing, in the county in
which he is elected, any legal duties required to be performed by
the attorney general, and which are not inconsistent with the
duties of the prosecuting attorney as the legal representative of such county. It shall also be the duty of the prosecuting
attorney, when requested by the attorney general, to perform or
to assist the attorney general in performing, any legal duties
required to be performed by the attorney general, in any county
other than that in which such prosecuting attorney is elected,
and for the performance of any such duties in any county other
than that in which such prosecuting attorney is elected he shall
be paid his actual expenses.
It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney to provide
legal assistance to all duly authorized law-enforcement officers
with jurisdiction to investigate crime in the county wherein such
prosecuting attorney holds office: Provided, That such legal
assistance shall be restricted in scope to assisting such police
officers in the investigation of crime: Provided, however, That
no prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney shall
be liable for any civil damages as the result of any act or
omission in rendering legal assistance in accordance with this
section.
Upon the request of the attorney general the prosecuting
attorney shall make a written report of the state and condition
of the several causes in which the state is a party, pending in
his county, and upon any matters referred to him by the attorney
general as provided by law.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require prosecuting
attorneys to render legal assistance to police in the investigation of crime. The bill provides that prosecutors are
immune from civil liability for acts or omissions that occur
while rendering such legal assistance.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.