HB 2165 H VAHS AM 1-29 

    The Committee on Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security moves to amend the bill on page 1, section 10, line 18, after the enacting section, by striking out the remainder of the bill and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“ARTICLE 1. FEES AND ALLOWANCES.

§59-1-10. Fees to be charged by clerk of county commission.

    For the purpose of this section, the word “page” is defined as being a paper or electronic writing of not more than legal size, 8 1/2" x 14".

    (a) When a writing is admitted to record, for receiving proof of acknowledgment thereof, entering an order in connection therewith, endorsing clerk’s certificate of recordation thereon and indexing in a proper index, the clerk of the county commission shall charge and collect the following fees:

    (1) $15 for a deed of conveyance (with or without a plat), trust deed, fixture filing or security agreement concerning real estate lease.

    (2) $40 for a trustee’s report of sale for any property for which additional information and filing requirements are required by section eight-a, article one, chapter thirty-eight of this code. $20 of each recording fee received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited into the county’s General Revenue Fund and $20 paid quarterly by the clerk of the county commission to the West Virginia Housing Development Fund established in article eighteen, chapter thirty-one of this code.

    (3) $10 for a financing, continuation, termination or other statement or writing permitted to be filed under chapter forty-six of this code.

    (4) $10 for a plat or map (with no deed of conveyance).

    (5) No charge for a service discharge record.

    (6) $10 for any document or writing other than those referenced in subdivisions (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this subsection.

    (7) $1 for each additional page for documents or writings containing more than five pages.

    For any of the documents admitted to record pursuant to this subsection, if the clerk of the county commission has the technology available to receive these documents in electronic form or other media, the clerk shall set a reasonable fee to record these writings not to exceed the cost for filing paper documents.

    (8) Of the fees collected pursuant to subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section, $10 shall be deposited in the county general fund in accordance with section twenty-eight of this article and $1 shall be deposited in the county general fund and dedicated to the operation of the county clerk’s office. $4 of the fees collected pursuant to subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section and $5 of the fees collected pursuant to subdivision (6), subsection (a) of this section shall be paid by the county clerk into the state treasury and deposited in equal amounts for deposit into the Farmland Protection Fund created in article twelve, chapter eight-a of this code for the benefit of the West Virginia Agricultural Land Protection Authority and into the Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund created in article two-g, chapter five-b of this code. The funds deposited in the state treasury pursuant to this subdivision may only be used for costs, excluding personnel costs, associated with purpose of land conservation, as defined in subsection (f), section seven, article two-g, chapter five-b of this code.

    (b) $5 for administering any oath other than oaths by officers and employees of the state, political subdivisions of the state or a public or quasi-public entity of the state or a political subdivision of the state, taken in his or her official capacity.

    (c) $55 for issuance of marriage license and other duties pertaining to the marriage license (including preparation of the application, administrating the oath, registering and recording the license, mailing acknowledgment of minister’s return to one of the licensees and notification to a licensee after sixty days of the nonreceipt of the minister’s return). This fee is reduced to $35 if the applicants present a premarital education course completion certificate issued pursuant to section seven hundred one, article two, chapter forty-eight of this code, and dated within one year of the application for a marriage license.

    (1) $1 of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into the state treasury as a state registration fee in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the treasury under article twelve, chapter eleven of this code;

    (2) $15 of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into the state treasury for the Family Protection Shelter Support Act in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the treasury under article twelve, chapter eleven of this code;

    (3) $10 of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code; and

    (4) If a premarital education course completion certificate is not presented, the county clerk shall, on or before the tenth day of each month, transmit $20 of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection to the State Treasurer for deposit in the state treasury as follows:

    (A) $5 to the credit of the Family Protection Shelter Support Act in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the treasury under article twelve, chapter eleven of this code;

    (B) $5 to the credit of the special revenue account, hereby created, designated the “Fund for Civil Legal Services for Low Income Persons,” which shall consist of all gifts, grants, bequests, transfers, appropriations or other donations or payments which may be received and administered by the Division of Justice and Community Services from any governmental entity or unit or any person, firm, foundation, or corporation for the purposes of this section, and all interest or other return earned from investment of the fund. Expenditures from the fund shall be made by the Director of the Division of Justice and Community Services and shall be limited to grants to nonprofit agencies which provide civil legal services to low income persons made at his or her discretion.  Any balance in the fund at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the General Revenue Fund but shall remain in the fund and be expended as provided by this section.

    (C) $10 to the credit of the Marriage Education Fund created pursuant to section seven hundred two, article two, chapter forty-eight of this code.

    (d) (1) $1.50 for a copy of any writing or document, if it is not otherwise provided for.

    (2) $1 for each additional page if the writing or documents contains more than two pages.

    (3) $1 for annexing the seal of the commission or clerk to any paper.

    (4) (A) $5 for a certified copy of a birth certificate, death certificate or marriage license, except as provided by paragraph (B) of this subdivision.

    (B) Upon request, the clerk of the county commission shall issue, without fee, within 30 days from date of death, certified copies of the death certificate of an eligible veteran or active service member to:

    (i) The executor, executrix, administrator, or administratrix of the eligible veteran or active service member’s estate; or    (ii) The funeral director providing funeral services for the eligible veteran or active service member, with written permission from the person responsible for payment of the funeral services or the executor, executrix, administrator, or administratrix of the eligible veteran or active service member’s estate: Provided, That the total number of certified copies of an eligible veteran or active service member’s death certificate issued without fee pursuant to this section does not exceed five total copies: Provided, however, That pursuant to the provisions of section twelve-a, article four, chapter fifty-one of this code, no fee may be charged for a death certificate that is necessary to obtain benefits from the federal or state government. As used in this section, “eligible veteran” has the same meaning as defined in section two, article four, chapter nine-a. 

    (e) For copies of any record in electronic form or a medium other than paper, a reasonable fee set by the clerk of the county commission not to exceed the costs associated with document search and duplication.”