Senate Bill No. 512
(By Senators Dittmar and Craigo)
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[Introduced February 20, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring county
courthouses to be open on Saturdays.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, 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 3. COUNTY PROPERTY.
§7-3-2. Courthouse, jail and offices.
The county commission of every county, at the expense of the
county, shall provide at the county seat thereof a suitable
courthouse and jail, together with suitable offices for the judge of the circuit court and judges of courts of limited
jurisdiction, clerks of circuit courts, courts of limited
jurisdiction and of the county commission, assessor, sheriff,
prosecuting attorney, county superintendent of schools, and
surveyor, and all other offices as are or may be required by
law:
Provided, That the courthouse, including any annex or
other facility housing the courts and offices herein set out
(excepting all facilities that are on a twenty-four-hour basis),
shall be open to the public Monday through
Friday Saturday during
the hours prescribed by the county commission by an order duly
recorded in the order book of the commission.
The county
commission in such order may, in its discretion, provide that
the courthouse, including any annex or other facility housing
the courts and offices herein set out, be open on Saturday and
prescribe the hours during which it shall be open. In no case
may the county commission provide that the courthouse, including
any annex or other facility housing the courts and offices herein
set out, be open for business on Sundays or national or state
holidays:
Provided, however, That the county commission of
every county having a population in excess of two hundred
thousand may provide at the county seat or elsewhere in the county, as the county commission shall determine, a suitable
jail or jails:
Provided further, That the county commission of
any county, regardless of population, may, as provided in article
twenty-three, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia,
contract with the county commissions of one or more other
counties within this state for the erection, construction,
equipment, leasing and renting of a regional correctional center
for either adult or youth offenders, at a location mutually
agreeable to the contracting parties and not necessarily at the
county seat, which will serve each county entering into the
contract. The county commission shall keep the courthouse, jail
and other offices in constant and adequate repair, and supplied
with the necessary heat, light, furniture, record books, and
janitor service, and, except as to the office for the judge of
the circuit court, with the necessary stationery and postage,
and other things as shall be necessary; but all of the public
records, books and papers belonging or appertaining to the county
surveyor's office shall be delivered to the clerk of the county
commission and retained by him in his official possession and
under his control and shall constitute a part of the public
records, books and papers of his office. All courthouses, jails and offices hereafter erected shall be built of stone and brick,
or stone or brick, or other equally fireproof materials, and the
offices shall be fireproof or be furnished with fireproof vaults
or safes. The jails shall be well secured, and sufficient for
the convenient accommodation of those who may be confined
therein. The county commission may also provide other necessary
offices and buildings, and may, by purchase or otherwise, acquire
as much land as may be requisite or desirable for county
purposes, and may suitably enclose, improve and embellish the
lands so acquired.
Subject to the conditions hereinabove set forth with respect
to the site of the courthouse, jail, and other offices, the
commission may, from time to time, as may seem to it proper,
provide, at the expense of the county, a new or other building or
buildings to be used for the courthouse and jail, or for either,
together with suitable offices, as aforesaid, and for that
purpose may acquire, by purchase or otherwise, and hold any
lands, or lands and buildings, which may be necessary, and may
enclose, improve and embellish the same. When any new or other
building or buildings shall be ready for occupancy, the county
commission shall make an order declaring that, on a day to be therein named, the new or other building or buildings shall
become the courthouse, or jail, or both the courthouse and jail
of the county, and shall cause copies of the order to be posted
at the front door of the new as well as of the old courthouse, at
least twenty days before the day named in the order; and on and
after the day named the new or other building or buildings shall
become, respectively, the courthouse, or jail, or both the
courthouse and jail of the county in all respects and for all
purposes. After the change shall have been made the county
commission may sell or otherwise dispose of, as may seem to it
proper, the building or buildings previously used as a courthouse
and jail, or either, and the land on which they are, or either
is, situated, and of the interest of the county therein.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, any county commission providing and maintaining a jail
on the effective date of this article shall not be required to
provide and maintain a jail after a regional jail becomes
available pursuant to the provisions of article twenty, chapter
thirty-one of this code, unless the county commission determines
that such a facility is necessary:
Provided, That such county
commission may provide and maintain a holding facility which complies with the standards set forth for such holding facilities
in legislative rules promulgated by the jail and correctional
facility standards commission or its predecessor, the jail and
prison standards commission.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require county
courthouses to be open on Saturdays.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.