SB 349 Text

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 349
(By Senator Wooton)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 17, 1993.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one-a, article eleven, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section four, article two-a, chapter fourteen of said code; and to amend and reenact section four, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of said code, all relating to the collection of crime victims compensation fees, regional jail fees or law enforcement training fees; and providing criminal penalties for the failure to timely pay these fees into the proper accounts.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one-a, article eleven, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that section four, article two-a, chapter fourteen of said code be amended and reenacted; and section four, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

ARTICLE 11. POWERS AND DUTIES WITH RESPECT TO ORDINANCES AND

ORDINANCE PROCEDURES.

§8-11-1a. Disposition of criminal costs into state treasury account for regional jail and prison development fund; criminal penalty for failure to collect or pay regional jail fees.

The clerk of each municipal court, or such person designated to receive fines and costs, shall collect and at the end of each month pay into the regional jail and prison development fund in the state treasury an amount equal to forty dollars of the costs assessed in each proceeding, except for traffic offenses that are not moving violations: Provided, That in a case where a defendant has failed to pay all costs assessed against him, no payment shall be made to the regional jail and prison development fund unless and until the defendant has paid all costs which, when paid, are available for the use and benefit of the municipality.
Any clerk of a municipal court or person designated to receive fines and costs who willfully fails, refuses or neglects to comply with the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or incarcerated in the county jail for not more than one year, or both fined and incarcerated.
CHAPTER 14. CLAIMS DUE AND AGAINST THE STATE.

ARTICLE 2A. COMPENSATION AWARDS TO VICTIMS OF CRIMES.

§14-2A-4. Creation of crime victims compensation fund; criminal penalty for failure to pay fees to fund.

(a) Every person within the state who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a misdemeanor or felony offense, other than atraffic offense that is not a moving violation, in any magistrate court or circuit court, shall pay the sum of ten dollars as costs in the case, in addition to any other court costs that the court is required by law to impose upon the convicted person. Every person within the state who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a misdemeanor or felony offense, other than a traffic offense that is not a moving violation, in any municipal court, shall pay the sum of eight dollars as costs in the case, in addition to any other court costs that the court is required by law to impose upon the convicted person. In addition to any other costs previously specified, every person within the state who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of section two, article five, chapter seventeen-c, shall pay a fee in the amount of twenty percent of any fine imposed under said section two. This shall be in addition to any other court cost required by this section or which may be required by law.
(b) The clerk of the circuit court, magistrate court or municipal court wherein the additional costs are imposed under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall, on or before the last day of each month, transmit all costs received under this article to the state treasurer for deposit in the state treasury to the credit of a special revenue fund to be known as the "Crime Victims Compensation Fund," which is hereby created. All moneys heretofore collected and received under the prior enactment or reenactments of this article and deposited or to be deposited in the "Crime Victims Reparation Fund" are hereby transferred to the crime victims compensation fund, and the treasurer shall deposit the moneys in the state treasury. Allmoneys collected and received under this article and paid into the state treasury and credited to the crime victims compensation fund in the manner prescribed in section two, article two, chapter twelve of this code, shall be kept and maintained for the specific purposes of this article, and shall not be treated by the auditor and treasurer as part of the general revenue of the state.
(c) Moneys in the crime victims compensation fund shall be available for the payment of the costs of administration of this article in accordance with the budget of the court approved therefor: Provided, That the services of the office of the attorney general, as may be required or authorized by any of the provisions of this article, shall be rendered without charge to the fund.
Any clerk of the circuit court, magistrate court or municipal court who willfully fails, refuses or neglects to comply with the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or incarcerated in the county jail for not more than one year, or both fined and incarcerated.
CHAPTER 30. PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS.

ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.

§30-29-4. Special revenue account -- Collections; disbursements; administrative expenses; criminal penalty for failure to collect or pay fees to account.

(a) Beginning on the effective date of this article, a two dollar fee shall be added to the usual court costs of all criminal court proceedings involving violation of any criminallaw of the state or any county or municipality thereof, excluding violations of municipal parking ordinances.
(b) Beginning on the effective date of this article, a two dollar fee shall be added to the amount of any cash or property bond posted for violation of any criminal law of the state or any county or municipality thereof, excluding bonds posted solely for violation of municipal parking ordinances. Upon forfeiture of such bond, the two dollar fee shall be deposited as provided in subsection (c) of this section.
(c) All fees collected pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be deposited in a separate account by the collecting agency. Within ten calendar days following the beginning of each calendar month, the collecting agency shall forward the amount deposited to the state treasurer. The treasurer shall deposit all fees so received to a special revenue account. Funds in the account shall be disbursed by the governor's committee, upon recommendation by the subcommittee, for the funding of law-enforcement training academies and programs and to pay expenses of the governor's committee in administering the provisions of this article, which expenses may not in any fiscal year exceed ten percent of the funds deposited to said special revenue account during that fiscal year.
Any clerk of the circuit court, magistrate court or municipal court who willfully fails, refuses or neglects to comply with the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or incarcerated in the county jail for not more than one year, or both fined and incarcerated..

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a misdemeanor offense for the failure of any person who is responsible for collecting fees for Crime Victims Compensation Fund, Regional Jail Fees or Law Enforcement Training, to pay these fees into the proper fund or account.

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