Senate Bill No. 130
(By Senators Snyder and Helmick)
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[Introduced February 26, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article five, chapter seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty- four, relating to reimbursement of attorneys' fees for
county commission appointees in certain cases.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, 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
twenty-four, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. FISCAL AFFAIRS.
§7-5-24. Reimbursement of attorneys' fees for county commission appointees; prohibition against county commissions reimbursing attorneys' fees in certain cases.
(a) Reimbursement or payment for attorneys' fees for persons appointed by a county commission to any agency,
department, authority or other entity outside the direct control
of the county commission in cases where the appointed person is
prosecuted and acquitted of a criminal offense arising out of
that person's employment shall be made from the budgetary funds
of the agency, department, authority or other entity which
employs the appointed person: Provided, That should the agency,
department, authority or other entity be insolvent or otherwise
unable to reimburse or pay the attorneys' fees, the appointed
person may bring a claim for reimbursement or payment for
attorneys' fees against the state in accordance with article two,
chapter fourteen of this code.
(b) A county commission is prohibited from reimbursing or
paying for attorneys' fees for persons appointed by the
commission to any agency, department, authority or other entity
outside the direct control of the county commission in cases
where the appointed person is prosecuted and acquitted of a
criminal offense arising out of that person's employment.
For purposes of this section, "any agency, department,
authority or other entity outside the direct control of the
county commission" means those entities within the meaning of
section three, article two, chapter fourteen of this code, except
for a county board of education or a municipality.
For purposes of this section, "direct control by the county
commission" means that all members of the governing body of the
agency, department, authority or other entity are appointed by
the county commission, and all revenues generated by the agency,
department, authority or other entity are required to be
deposited into the general county fund, and all disbursements by
the agency, department, authority or other entity are required to
be approved by the county commission.
NOTE: This bill mandates that reimbursements for attorneys'
fees for persons appointed by a county commission to an agency,
department, authority or other entity outside the control of the
county commission shall be made by the employing agency,
department, authority or other entity and not by the county
commission. These attorneys' fees must arise out of the
appointed person's prosecution and acquittal for a criminal
offense which arose from the person's employment.
This section is new, therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.