Senate Bill No. 498
(By Senators Bowman, Kessler, Jenkins, McCabe, Dempsey, McKenzie,
Barnes, Unger and Plymale)
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[Introduced March 9, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §7-4-6 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to continuing the West Virginia
Prosecuting Attorneys Institute until the thirtieth day of
July, two thousand eleven; altering the scope of
responsibility to include services to the entire staff of
prosecutors; allowing the Institute to train law-enforcement
personnel and other investigative agencies; and allowing the
Institute to partner with private groups or organizations and
accept moneys for reimbursement for expenses incurred with
respect to its duties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-4-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, REWARDS AND LEGAL ADVICE.
§7-4-6. West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute.
(a) There is continued 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 continued 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 continued 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.
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) The provision 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) The establishment and implementation of general and
specialized training programs for prosecuting attorneys,
and their
professional staffs
and, where determined practical by the
executive council and executive director, all statutorily
authorized law-enforcement or investigative agencies of the state
or its subdivisions;
(3) The provision of materials for prosecuting attorneys and
their
professional staffs, including legal research, technical
assistance and technical and professional publications;
(4) The compilation and dissemination of 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) The establishment and implementation of 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) The acceptance and expenditure of, grants,
moneys for
reimbursement of expenses and gifts and acceptance of services from
any public or private source;
(7) The entering into of agreements and contracts with public
or private agencies,
groups, organizations or educational institutions;
(8) The identification of experts and other resources for use
by prosecutors in criminal matters;
(9) The recommendation 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; and
(10) The development of a written handbook for prosecutors and
their assistants to use which delineates relevant information
concerning the elements of various crimes in West Virginia and
other information the institute considers appropriate.
(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
as a result of disqualification of the prosecutor or for other good
cause shown, 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 and
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. No person who is serving
as a prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney of any
county is required to take an additional oath when appointed to
serve as a special prosecuting attorney.
(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) 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
CategoryMinimum
MaximumPremium
A$1,500,000,000Unlimited$400
B$1,000,000,000$1,499,999,000$375
C$ 800,000,000$ 999,999,000$350
D$ 700,000,000$ 799,999,000$325
E$ 600,000,000$ 699,999,000$300
F$ 500,000,000$ 599,999,000$250
G$ 400,000,000$ 499,999,000$200
H$ 300,000,000$ 399,999,000$150
I$ 200,000,000$ 299,999,000$100
J
-0-$ 199,999,000$ 50
Upon receipt of a premium, grant, reimbursement or other
funding source, excluding federal funds as provided in article two,
chapter four of this code, the Treasurer shall deposit the funds
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) The West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute shall
continue to exist until the first day of July, two thousand
five
eleven, 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 on Government and
Finance with a report setting forth the activities of the institute
and suggestions for legislative action.
(i) An independent performance audit of all functions and
duties of the Prosecuting Attorneys Institute shall be conducted by
the Legislative Auditor's Office no later than the thirtieth day of
June, two thousand five and a second performance audit shall be
performed by the Legislative Auditor's Office no later than the
thirtieth day of June, two thousand five.
(i) (j) Neither the institute nor its employees acting in
their employment capacity shall engage in activities before
governmental bodies which advocate positions on issues other than
those issues consistent with the duties of the institute set forth
in subsection (d) of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to continue the West
Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute Until July 30, 2011; to
alter the scope of responsibility to include services to the entire
staff of prosecutors; to allow the Institute to train
law-enforcement personnel and other investigative agencies; and to
allow the Institute to partner with private groups or organizations
and accept moneys for reimbursement for expenses incurred with
respect to its duties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.