SB 595 Text

ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 595
(By Senators Wooton, Bowman, Buckalew, Schoonover, Wagner,
White and Yoder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported February 29, 1996.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article one, chapter four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to authority of subpoena witnesses; applicability of whistle-blower law; and penalty.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article one, chapter four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. OFFICERS, MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES; APPROPRIATIONS; INVESTIGATIONS; DISPLAY OF FLAGS; RECORDS; USE OF CAPITOL BUILDING; PREFILING OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS; STANDING COMMITTEES; INTERIM MEETINGS; NEXT MEETING OF THE SENATE.

§4-1-5. Authority to ~~summon~~ subpoena witnesses and documents ~~and send for papers; punishment for contempt~~ ; penalty for refusal to comply; applicability of whistle-blower law.

(a)When the Senate or House of Delegates, or a committee of either house, ~~authorized to examine witnesses, or to send for persons and papers,~~ shall order the attendance of any witness, or the production of any ~~paper as evidence~~ books, papers, documents or records necessary for the Senate, House of Delegates or a committee thereof to perform its duties, a summons shall be issued accordingly, signed by the presiding officer or clerk of such house, or the chairman of such committee, directed to the sheriff or other proper officer of any county, or to the sergeant at arms of such house, or any person deputed by him. And when served, obedience thereto may be enforced by attachment, fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the house which appointed the committee; and if the committee be authorized to sit during the recess of the Legislature or the recess of the house which appointed the committee, then obedience to the summons may be enforced by such committee as aforesaid. And when When a committee is appointed by each house under any joint or concurrent resolution, and directed to sit jointly, with authority to examine witnesses or send for persons ~~and papers~~ or documents, the ~~summons~~ subpoena aforesaid may be signed by the chairman of the committee on the part of the Senate or the chairman of the committee on the part of the House of Delegates; and obedience thereto may be enforced as aforesaid by the house which appointed the committee which directed the summons to be issued; and if such committees be authorized to sit during the recess of the Legislature, then obedience to the summons aforesaid may be enforced as aforesaid by the committee which directed the summons to be issued.
(b) If any witness subpoenaed to appear at any hearing or meeting pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall refuse to appear or to answer inquiries there propounded, or shall fail or refuse to produce books, papers, documents or records within his or her control when the same are subpoenaed, the Senate, House of Delegates or a committee thereof, in its discretion may enforce obedience to its subpoena by attachment, fine or imprisonment, or it may report the facts to the circuit court of Kanawha county or any other court of competent jurisdiction and such court shall compel obedience to the subpoena as though such subpoena had been issued by such court in the first instance.
Witnesses subpoenaed to attend such hearings or meetings, except officers or employees of the state, shall be allowed the same mileage and per diem as is allowed witnesses before any petit jury in this state.
(c) The provisions of article one, chapter six-c of this code are expressly applicable to persons testifying pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.

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