Senate Bill No. 46
(By Senators Buckalew and Dugan)
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[Introduced January 12, 1996; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article four, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring
prosecuting attorneys to provide legal assistance to all
law-enforcement officers throughout criminal investigations;
and providing that prosecuting attorneys receive immunity
from civil liability relative to the legal assistance they
render to police officers during investigations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, 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.
§7-4-1. Duties of prosecuting attorney; further duties upon
request of attorney general.
It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney to attend
to the criminal business of the state in the county in which he
or she is elected and qualified, and when he
or she has
information of the violation of any penal law committed within
such county, he
or she shall institute and prosecute all
necessary and proper proceedings against the offender, and may in
such case issue or cause to be issued a summons for any witness
he
or she may deem material. Every public officer shall give
him
the prosecutor information of the violation of any penal law
committed within
his the county. It shall also be the duty of
the prosecuting attorney to attend to civil suits in such county
in which the state, or any department, commission or board
thereof, is interested, and to advise, attend to, bring,
prosecute or defend, as the case may be, all matters, actions,
suits and proceedings in which such county or any county board of
education is interested.
It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney to keep his
or her office open in the charge of a responsible person during the hours polls are open on general, primary and special county-
wide election days, and the prosecuting attorney, or his
or her
assistant, if any, shall be available for the purpose of advising
election officials. It shall be the further duty of the
prosecuting attorney, when requested by the attorney general, to
perform or to assist the attorney general in performing, in the
county in which he
or she is elected, any legal duties required
to be performed by the attorney general, and which are not
inconsistent with the duties of the prosecuting attorney as the
legal representative of such county. It shall also be the duty
of the prosecuting attorney, when requested by the attorney
general, to perform or to assist the attorney general in
performing any legal duties required to be performed by the
attorney general, in any county other than that in which
such
the prosecuting attorney is elected.
and For the performance of
any such duties in any county other than that in which
such the
prosecuting attorney is elected he
or she shall be paid his
or
her actual expenses.
It shall be the duty of the prosecuting attorney to provide
legal assistance to all duly authorized law-enforcement officers
with jurisdiction to investigate crime in the county wherein the prosecuting attorney holds office: Provided, That such legal
assistance shall be restricted in scope to assisting the police
officers in the investigation of crime: Provided, however, That
no prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney may be
liable for any civil damages as the result of any act or omission
in rendering legal assistance in accordance with this section.
Upon the request of the attorney general the prosecuting
attorney shall make a written report of the state and condition
of the several causes in which the state is a party, pending in
his
or her county, and upon any matters referred to him
or her by
the attorney general as provided by law.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require prosecuting
attorneys to render legal assistance to police in the
investigation of crime. The bill provides that prosecutors are
immune from civil liability for acts or omissions that occur
while rendering such legal assistance.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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