Senate Bill No. 228
(By Senators Love, Snyder, Hunter and Buckalew)
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[Introduced January 27, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article one, chapter seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated section
thirteen, relating to providing authority to counties to
enact ordinances regulating the repair, closing, demolition
of dwellings or buildings unfit for human habitation; and
procedures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, 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
thirteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
§7-1-13. Authority for enacting ordinances regulating the repair, closing, demolition of dwellings or buildings unfit for human habitation; procedures.
(a) Plenary power and authority are hereby conferred upon
every county to adopt ordinances regulating the repair,
alteration or improvement, or the vacating and closing or removal
or demolition, or any combination thereof, of any dwellings or
other buildings unfit for human habitation due to dilapidation,
defects increasing the hazard of fire, accidents or other
calamities, lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities or
any other conditions prevailing in any dwelling or building,
whether used for human habitation or not, which would cause such
dwellings or other buildings to be unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous
or detrimental to the public safety or welfare.
(b) The county commission in formally adopting such ordinances
shall designate the enforcement agency, which shall consist of
the one member of the county commission, the county prosecuting
attorney or his or her designee and the sheriff or his or her
designee, the county engineer or building inspector and one
member at large, to be selected by and to serve at the will and
pleasure of the county commission. The ranking health officer
shall serve as an ex officio member of such enforcement agency.
(c) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to the provisions of this
section shall provide fair and equitable rules of procedure and
any other standards deemed necessary to guide the enforcement agency, or its agents, in the investigation of dwelling or
building conditions, and in conducting hearings:
Provided, That
any entrance upon premises for the purpose of making examinations
shall be made in such manner as to cause the least possible
inconvenience to the persons in possession.
(d) The county commission of every county shall have plenary
power and authority to adopt an ordinance requiring the owner or
owners of any dwelling or building under determination of the
state fire marshal, as provided in section twelve, article three,
chapter twenty-nine of this code, or under order of the
enforcement agency of the county, to pay for the costs of
repairing, altering or improving, or of vacating and closing,
removing or demolishing any dwelling or building. Every county
shall also have the right to file a lien against the real
property in question for an amount not to exceed the assessed
value of the property as recorded in the office of the county
assessor, or to institute a civil action in a court of competent
jurisdiction against the landowner or other responsible party for
all costs incurred by the county with respect to the property and
for reasonable attorney fees and court costs incurred in the
prosecution of the action.
Not less than ten days prior to instituting a civil action as
provided for in this section, the county commission of the county
shall send notice to the landowner by certified mail, return receipt requested, advising the landowner of the governing body's
intention to institute such action. The notice shall be sent to
the most recent address of the landowner of record in the office
of the assessor of the county where the subject property is
located. If, for any reason, such certified mail is returned
without evidence of proper receipt thereof, then in such event,
the county commission shall cause a Class III-0 legal
advertisement to be published in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county wherein the subject property is located
and post notice on the front door or other conspicuous location
on the subject property.
In the event any landowner desires to contest any demand
brought forth pursuant to this section, the landowner may seek
relief in a court of competent jurisdiction.
All orders issued by the enforcement agency shall be served in
accordance with the law of this state concerning the service of
process in civil actions, and shall, in addition thereto, be
posted in a conspicuous place on the premises affected by the
complaint or order:
Provided, That no ordinance shall be adopted
without providing therein for the right to apply to the circuit
court for a temporary injunction restraining the enforcement
agency pending final disposition of the cause. In the event such
application is made, a hearing thereon shall be had within twenty
days, or as soon thereafter as possible, and the court shall enter such final order or decree as the law and justice may
require.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to bestow authority upon
counties, similar to authority that municipalities currently
possess, to demolish buildings.
Section thirteen is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.