Senate Bill No. 58
(By Senators Blatnik, Chafin and Plymale)
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[Introduced January 19, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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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; the creation of an executive committee
therefor; the appointment of an executive director; the
appointment of special prosecutors to serve in the various
counties where the elected prosecuting attorney is
disqualified from the prosecution of a criminal case or
where the elected prosecuting attorney is disqualified from
advising, attending to, defending, bringing or prosecuting
civil suits in which the state, or any department, commission or board thereof is interested or in which the
county or any county board of education is interested; and
assessing the cost of the operation of the West Virginia
prosecuting attorneys institute.
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) The West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute is
hereby created, a public body corporate, whose membership shall
consist of all of the elected prosecuting attorneys in the
various counties of this state.
(b) There is further created the executive committee of the
West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute which shall consist
of nine prosecuting attorneys elected by the membership of the
West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute at its annual
meeting, of which one shall be elected president, one shall be
elected secretary/treasurer and two shall be elected first vice-president and second vice-president, all of whom shall serve
for two year terms. At the election of the executive committee
and the officers thereof, each county has one vote to be cast by
its prosecuting attorney.
(c) The executive committee shall appoint an executive
director. The executive director shall serve at the will and
pleasure of the executive committee at an annual salary to be
determined and established by the executive committee of the
institute. 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 executive director shall perform the following
duties and responsibilities:
(1) Establish and implement general and specialized training
programs and provide materials for prosecuting attorneys and
their professional staff;
(2) Provide and coordinate continuing legal education (CLE)
programs and services for prosecuting attorneys and their
professional staffs and provide materials for prosecuting
attorneys and their professional staffs, including legal research, technical assistance and technical and professional
publications;
(3) Compile and disseminate information and advise
prosecuting attorneys of current developments and changes in the
criminal law and the administration of criminal justice in
relation to the duties of county prosecutors;
(4) With approval of the institute, establish and implement
uniform reporting procedures for prosecuting attorneys and their
professional staff in order to maintain and provide statistical
data and information relative to prosecutorial functions and
standards in the respective offices of the various prosecuting
attorneys in this state;
(5) With approval of the institute, accept and expend funds,
grants, and gifts and accept services from any public or private
source;
(6) With approval of the institute, enter into agreements
and contracts with public or private agencies or educational
institutions;
(7) Provide services and functions as the prosecuting
attorneys institute shall direct, in order to carry out the
duties and responsibilities established hereunder.
(e) The executive director of the West Virginia prosecuting
attorneys institute shall also assist the executive committee in
providing the membership of the institute with continuing legal
education at regularly scheduled training seminars. Such
director shall also provide computer resources and legal
research. He or she shall also facilitate coordination between
the various agencies of government, both state and federal, of
information concerning state and federal grants.
(f) All full-time elected prosecuting attorneys receiving
the maximum salary as provided by section four, article seven of
this chapter are eligible to be appointed to serve as a special
prosecuting attorney in any county where the elected prosecuting
attorney has been disqualified in a particular criminal case or
from representing a particular commission, agency, department,
authority, county or board of education.
The executive director of the institute shall, upon request,
provide to any requesting judge or other judicial authority,
commission, department, agency, and the state or any county board
of education, the name of a full-time prosecuting attorney who
would qualify to serve as a special prosecuting attorney. Any
special prosecuting attorney so appointed shall serve without further compensation than is paid to him or her by his or her
county, except that he or she shall be entitled to be reimbursed
for his or her legitimate expenses associated with travel,
mileage and room and board: Provided, That the county commission
in the county wherein any special prosecutor is appointed shall
be responsible for all such expenses. The executive director of
the institute shall maintain a list of all full-time prosecuting
attorneys receiving the maximum designated salary established by
section four, article seven of this chapter and any other
prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney who wishes
to serve as a special prosecuting attorney. The executive
director of the institute shall on a random basis designate
special prosecuting attorneys to serve as needed in a particular
jurisdiction giving consideration to the proximity of the special
prosecuting attorney's home county in relation to the
jurisdiction needing such special prosecutor's services.
Full-time prosecuting attorneys receiving the maximum salary as
established by section four, article seven of this chapter and
those other prosecuting attorneys and assistant prosecuting
attorneys who desire to serve as special prosecuting attorneys
shall be credited for one month noncontributing service under the West Virginia public employees retirement system as set forth in
article ten, chapter five of this code, for every month that any
such prosecuting attorney is listed on the special prosecuting
attorney's list which is maintained by the executive director.
Such list shall be certified to the board of trustees of the West
Virginia public employees retirement system every month by the
executive director. Any special prosecuting attorney
noncontributing service credit shall be in addition to any
contributing service credits earned from regular service.
(g) In each county of the state, an annual prosecuting
attorney fee shall be assessed and paid by the county commission
to the state treasurer for funding of the activities prescribed
hereunder. Such fee shall be assessed and paid as follows:
(1) Class I counties$ 5,000.00
(2) Class II counties 2,500.00
(3) Class III counties 1,500.00
(4) Class IV counties 1,000.00
(5) Class V counties 750.00
The fees required by this section shall be remitted by the
counties on or before the first day of October of each year
commencing with the first day of October, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five. If such fee is not paid as required
hereunder, it shall be offset from coal severance tax funds
generated in the applicable county for that year. In no event
may these funds be taken from the budget of the prosecuting
attorney of such county.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the West
Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute. The bill provides for
an executive committee with a director to coordinate the
appointment of special prosecutors when the need arises. The
bill provides that special prosecutors will be appointed from a
pool including all elected county prosecutors and any assistant
prosecutors who desire such appointments. This legislation
provides that specially appointed prosecutors would receive no
additional payment beyond their existing salaries other than
reimbursement for travel, meals and lodging required to carry out
their assignments. However, prosecutors or assistant prosecutors
who have volunteered to have their names on the list would, in
addition to the regular service credits they accumulated in the
state retirement system be given one month of noncontributing
service credit for each month their name was on the list, whether
or not they were called into service as a special prosecutor. An
executive director appointed by the executive committee would
have other duties such as providing information relative to CLE,
legal research, developments in criminal law and administration,
etc.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.