ENGORSSED
Senate Bill No. 239
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Bowman, Dittmar, Fanning, Hunter,
Kessler, Oliverio, Ross, Schoonover, Snyder, White, Buckalew, Deem,
Kimble and Scott )
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported January 28, 1998.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article four, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to establishment of the
prosecuting attorneys institute; establishing the executive
counsel; creating the position of executive director;
establishing duties of institute and personnel; establishing
dues structure for counties; and limitations on scope of
lobbying activities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article four, chapter seven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, 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 hereby created 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 hereby created 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 hereby created 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 at
an annual salary of fifty thousand dollars per year. 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) To provide 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) To establish and to implement general and specialized
training programs for prosecuting attorneys and their professional
staffs;
(3) To provide materials for prosecuting attorneys and their
professional staffs, including legal research, technical assistance
and technical and professional publications;
(4) To compile and disseminate 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) To establish and to implement 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) To accept and expend funds, grants and gifts and accept
services from any public or private source;
(7) To enter into agreements and contracts with public or
private agencies or educational institutions;
(8) To identify experts and other resources for use by prosecutors in criminal matters;
(9) To make recommendations 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) To develop 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 as the institute deems 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.
(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) Commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, 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$1,500,000,000 Unlimited$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, the treasurer shall deposit the
premium 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) (1) A county shall be exempted from the requirements of
subsection (g) of this section if the county commission of the county votes on or before the thirty-first day of December, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, to exclude that county from
participation in the West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute.
On or before the thirtieth day of September, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, the chair of the executive council of the
prosecuting attorneys institute shall notify each county commission
by registered mail, return receipt requested, that the county
commission will be subject to said subsection if the county does
not vote to be exempted. The vote shall be during a regular public
meeting of the county commission. The meeting shall be scheduled
and notice of the meeting shall be provided in accordance with the
provisions of article nine-a, chapter six of this code. If any
county commission votes to exclude its county pursuant to the
provisions of this subsection, the county, its county prosecutor
and assistant prosecutors and its circuit judges are prohibited
from utilizing any of the services provided by the prosecuting
attorneys institute unless those services are paid for by the
county on an actual cost basis, including fees, expenses and other
costs as determined and approved by the executive counsel of the
prosecuting attorneys institute. Nothing contained within this
subsection prohibits the use by a circuit court of the procedures
provided in section eight, article seven of this chapter if the
county commission of the county in which the subject prosecution
has been brought has voted, pursuant to the provisions of this
subsection, to exclude that county from the provisions of subsection (g) of this section.
(2) After a county commission votes to exempt the county from
the provisions of subsection (g) of this section, it may not
participate in the prosecuting attorneys institute nor be required
to pay the premiums under said section unless the county commission
votes at a later meeting to participate.
(i) (h) The West Virginia prosecuting attorneys institute
shall continue to exist until the first day of July,
one thousand
nine hundred ninety-eight two thousand one, 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) 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.