WEST virginia legislature
2017 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
Committee Substitute
for
Senate Bill 628
By Senators Rucker, Boso, Sypolt, Trump and Cline
[Originating in the Committee on Finance; reported on March 24, 2017]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §15-5-29; to amend and reenact §50-3-2 of said code; and to amend and reenact §62-5-10 of said code, all relating to creating a special revenue account in the State Treasury known as the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network Account; setting forth funding sources; providing for appropriation of moneys into the account; providing purposes for which the moneys may be used; providing for quarterly accounting; and providing funding for the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network through additional court costs to be imposed in criminal cases.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §15-5-29; that §50-3-2 of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §62-5-10 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 15. PUBLIC SAFETY.
ARTICLE 5. DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
§15-5-29. Creation of the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network Account; purpose; funding; disbursements.
(a) There is created in the State Treasury a separate special revenue account, which shall be an interest-bearing account, to be known as the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network Account. The special revenue account shall consist of income generated from the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network, appropriations made by the Legislature, income from the investment of moneys held in the special revenue account, grant money and all other sums available for deposit to the special revenue account from any source, public or private. Expenditures for purposes of this section are not authorized from collections, except in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon fulfillment of the provisions set forth in article two, chapter five-a of this code. Expenses incurred under this section are not charges against the general funds of the state.
(b) The Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shall use moneys in the special revenue account exclusively, in accordance with appropriations by the Legislature, to pay costs, fees and expenses incurred, or to be incurred for the following purposes: (1) The maintenance, upkeep and repair of the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network; (2) any personnel required to operate and maintain the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network; (3) the design, implementation and management of the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network; (4) all other related Statewide Interoperable Radio Network activities approved by the director; and (5) all costs incurred in the administration of the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network Account.
(c) Any balance remaining in the special revenue account at the end of any state fiscal year shall not revert to the General Revenue Fund but shall remain in the special revenue account and shall be used solely in a manner consistent with this section.
(d) The director or his or her designee shall authorize disbursements from the special revenue account. Moneys in the special revenue account are not available for the payment of any personal injury claims, workers’ compensation claims or other types of disability claims.
(e) Quarterly, the director shall prepare an accounting of all moneys disbursed from the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network Account. This accounting shall include the reason for the disbursement, the recipients of any disbursement and the source of any deposit.
CHAPTER 50. MAGISTRATE COURTS.
ARTICLE 3. COSTS, FINES AND RECORDS.
§50-3-2. Costs in criminal proceedings.
(a) In each criminal case
before a magistrate court in which the defendant is convicted, whether by plea
or at trial, there is imposed, in addition to other costs, fines, forfeitures
or penalties as may be allowed by law: (1) Costs in the amount of $60,
of which $5 of that amount shall be deposited in the Courthouse Facilities
Improvement Fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter
twenty-nine of this code; (2) an amount equal to the one-day per diem provided
for in subsection (h), section ten, article twenty, chapter thirty-one of this
code; and (3) costs in the amount of $30 to be deposited in the Regional
Jail Operations Partial Reimbursement Fund created by section ten-b of said
article; and (4) costs in the amount of $30 to be deposited in the Statewide
Interoperable Radio Network Account created by section twenty-nine, article
five, chapter fifteen of this code. A magistrate may not collect costs in
advance. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a person liable for
fines and court costs in a criminal proceeding in which the defendant is
confined or imprisoned in a jail or prison a correctional
facility and not participating in a work release program shall not be held
liable for the fines and court costs until one hundred eighty days after
completion of the term in jail or prison correctional facility. A
magistrate court shall deposit $5 from each of the criminal proceedings fees
collected pursuant to this section in the Court Security Fund created in
section fourteen, article three, chapter fifty-one of this code. A magistrate
court shall, on or before the tenth day of the month following the month in which
the fees imposed in this section were collected, remit an amount equal to the
one-day per diem provided for in subsection (h), section ten, article twenty,
chapter thirty-one of this code from each of the criminal proceedings in which
the fees specified in this section were collected to the magistrate court clerk,
or if there is no magistrate court clerk to the clerk of the circuit, together
with information as may be required by the rules of the Supreme Court of
Appeals and the rules of the Office of Chief Inspector. These moneys are paid
to the sheriff who shall distribute the moneys them solely in
accordance with the provisions of section fifteen, article five, chapter seven
of this code. Amendments made to this section during the 2001 regular session
of the Legislature, are effective after June 30, 2001. Amendments made to
this section during the 2017 regular session of the Legislature, are effective
beginning July 1, 2017.
(b) A magistrate shall assess costs in the amount of $2.50 for issuing a sheep warrant and the appointment and swearing appraisers and docketing the proceedings.
(c) In each criminal case which must be tried by the circuit court, but in which a magistrate renders some service, costs in the amount of $10 shall be imposed by the magistrate court and is certified to the clerk of the circuit court in accordance with the provisions of section six, article five, chapter sixty-two of this code.
CHAPTER 62. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE.
ARTICLE 5. COSTS IN CRIMINAL CASES.
§62-5-10. Mandatory cost assessed upon conviction of a felony.
(a) Every circuit court
shall assess, in every felony criminal matter as a cost to the defendant, an
assessment in the sum of $75 $100 for each felony count of
conviction. The assessment referred to herein in this subsection
shall be paid upon adjudication of guilt unless the court determines that the
defendant is unable to pay in such a manner the assessment at that
time, in which case payment of the assessment shall be paid prior to final
disposition. If the circuit court determines that a defendant is financially
unable to pay the assessment prior to final disposition, payment of the
assessment shall be a mandatory condition of probation or parole.
(b) The clerk of the
circuit court wherein where the assessment is imposed under the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall, on or before the last day
of each month, transmit all costs received pursuant to this section to the
State Treasurer for deposit as follows: Fifty dollars to the credit of the
Crime Victims Compensation Fund created by the provisions of section four,
article two-a, chapter fourteen of this code; and $25 to the credit of
the West Virginia Community Corrections Fund created by the provisions of
section four, article eleven-c of this chapter; and $25 to the credit of the
Statewide Interoperable Radio Network Account created by section twenty-nine,
article five, chapter fifteen of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide funding for the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network through additional court costs to be imposed in criminal cases.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.