H. B. 2095
(By Delegate Faircloth)
[Introduced February 14, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article two, chapter
fourteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section fourteen, article two-a of said chapter, all
relating to court of claims; increasing compensation of
judges; crime victims compensation fund; grounds for denial
of claim or reduction of awards; and increasing maximum
amount of awards.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article two, chapter fourteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section fourteen,
article two-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE.
§14-2-8. Compensation of judges; expenses.
Each judge of the court shall receive
one hundred forty two
hundred dollars for each day actually served, and actual expenses
incurred in the performance of his
or her duties. The number of
days served by each judge
shall may not exceed one hundred in any
fiscal year, except by authority of the joint committee on
government and finance:
Provided, That in computing the number
of days served, days utilized solely for the exercise of duties
assigned to judges and commissioners by the provisions of article
two-a of this chapter shall be disregarded. Requisitions for
compensation and expenses shall be accompanied by sworn and
itemized statements, which shall be filed with the auditor and
preserved as public records. For the purpose of this section,
time served shall include time spent
in the hearing
of claims,
in
the consideration of considering the record,
in the preparation
of preparing opinions and in necessary travel.
ARTICLE 2A. COMPENSATION AWARDS TO VICTIMS OF CRIMES.
§14-2A-14. Grounds for denial of claim or reduction of awards;
maximum awards.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), section ten of
this article, the judge or commissioner shall may not approve an
award of compensation to a claimant who did not file his or her
application for an award of compensation within two years after
the date of the occurrence of the criminally injurious conduct that caused the injury or death for which he or she is seeking an
award of compensation.
(b) The judge or commissioner shall may not approve an award
of compensation if the criminally injurious conduct upon which
the claim is based was not reported to a law-enforcement officer
or agency within seventy-two hours after the occurrence of the
conduct, unless it is determined that good cause existed for the
failure to report the conduct within the seventy-two hour period.
(c) The judge or commissioner shall may not approve an award
of compensation to a claimant who is the offender or an
accomplice of the offender who committed the criminally injurious
conduct, nor to any claimant if the award would unjustly benefit
the offender or his or her accomplice.
(d) A judge or commissioner, upon a finding that the
claimant or victim has not fully cooperated with appropriate law- enforcement agencies, or the claim investigator, may deny a
claim, reduce an award of compensation, or reconsider a claim
already approved.
(e) A judge or commissioner shall may not approve an award
of compensation if the injury occurred while the victim was
confined in any state, county or city regional jail, prison,
private prison or correctional facility.
(f) After reaching a decision to approve an award of
compensation, but prior to announcing the approval, the judge or commissioner shall require the claimant to submit current
information as to collateral sources on forms prescribed by the
clerk of the court of claims. The judge or commissioner shall
reduce an award of compensation or deny a claim for an award of
compensation that is otherwise payable to a claimant to the
extent that the economic loss upon which the claim is based is or
will be recouped from other persons, including collateral
sources, or if the reduction or denial is determined to be
reasonable because of the contributory misconduct of the claimant
or of a victim through whom he or she claims. If an award is
reduced or a claim is denied because of the expected recoupment
of all or part of the economic loss of the claimant from a
collateral source, the amount of the award or the denial of the
claim shall be conditioned upon the claimant's economic loss
being recouped by the collateral source: Provided,
That if it is
thereafter determined that the claimant will not receive all or
part of the expected recoupment, the claim shall be reopened and
an award shall be approved in an amount equal to the amount of
expected recoupment that it is determined the claimant will not
receive from the collateral source, subject to the limitation set
forth in subsection (g) of this section.
(g) Except in the case of death, compensation payable to a
victim and to all other claimants sustaining economic loss
because of injury to that victim shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars may not exceed thirty-five thousand dollars in the
aggregate. Compensation payable to all claimants because of the
death of the victim shall not exceed thirty thousand dollars may
not exceed fifty thousand dollars in the aggregate.
(h) If an award of compensation of five thousand dollars or
more is made to a minor, a guardian shall be appointed pursuant
to the provisions of article ten, chapter forty-four of this code
to manage the minor's estate.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the salaries
of court of claims judges and the maximum awards from the crime
victims compensation fund.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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