H. B. 4622

(By Delegates Staton, Michael, Amores and Pino)
[Introduced February 22, 2002; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]

A BILL to amend and reenact sections one and two, article three, chapter fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact sections ten, eleven and fourteen, article one, chapter fifty-nine of said code; and to amend and reenact section seventeen, article two of said chapter, all relating to increasing certain county clerk, circuit clerk, sheriff, prosecuting attorney and magistrate court fees; and dedicating those fee increases to the courthouse facilities improvement fund.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and two, article three, chapter fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that sections ten, eleven and fourteen, article one, chapter fifty of said code be amended and reenacted; and that section seventeen, article two of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 50. MAGISTRATE COURTS.
ARTICLE 3. COSTS, FINES AND RECORDS.
§50-3-1. Costs in civil actions.
The following costs shall be charged in magistrate courts in civil actions and shall be collected in advance:
(a) For filing and trying any civil action and for all services connected therewith, but excluding services regarding enforcement of judgment, the following amounts dependent upon the amount of damages sought in the complaint:
Where the action is for five hundred dollars
or less$25.00 35.00

Where the action is for more than five hundred

dollars but not more than one thousand dollars$30.00 50.00

Where the action is for more than one thousand

dollars but not more than two thousand dollars$35.00 55.00
Where the action is for more than two thousand
dollars $45.00 75.00
Where the action seeks relief other than money
damages $25.00 50.00
On and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, five dollars from each of the filing fees listed above will be deposited in the court security fund created by the provisions of section fourteen, article three, chapter fifty-one of this code.
(b) For each service regarding enforcement of a
judgment including execution, suggestion, garnishment
and suggestee execution$ 5.00 10.00
(c) For each bond filed in a case$ 1.00 2.00
(d) For taking deposition of witness for each
hour or portion thereof$ 1.00 2.50
(e) For taking and certifying acknowledgment
of a deed or other writing or taking oath upon an
affidavit$ .50 1.00
(f) For mailing any matter required or provided
by law to be mailed by certified or registered mail
with return receipt$ 1.00 2.00
Costs incurred in a civil action shall be reflected in any judgment rendered thereon. The provisions of section one, article two, chapter fifty-nine of this code, relating to the payment of costs by poor persons, shall be applicable to all costs in civil actions.
Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the contrary, any fee increase in this section enacted by the Legislature in the two thousand two regular session shall be deposited in the courthouse facilities improvement fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
§50-3-2. Costs in criminal proceedings.
(a) In each criminal case before a magistrate court in which the defendant is convicted, whether by plea or at trial, there is imposed, in addition to other costs, fines, forfeitures or penalties as may be allowed by law: (1) Costs in the amount of fifty-five seventy-five dollars; and (2) an amount equal to the one-day per diem provided for in subsection (h), section ten, article twenty, chapter thirty-one of this code. A magistrate may not collect costs in advance. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a person liable for fines and court costs in a criminal proceeding in which the defendant is confined in a jail or prison and not participating in a work release program shall not be held liable for the fines and court costs until ninety days after completion of the term in jail or prison. A magistrate court shall deposit five dollars from each of the criminal proceedings fees collected pursuant to this section in the court security fund created in section fourteen, article three, chapter fifty-one of this code. A magistrate court shall, on or before the tenth day of the month following the month in which the fees imposed in this section were collected, remit an amount equal to the one-day per diem provided for in subsection (h), section ten, article twenty, chapter thirty-one of this code from each of the criminal proceedings in which the fees specified in this section were collected to the magistrate court clerk or if there is no magistrate court clerk to the clerk of the circuit, together with information as may be required by the rules of the supreme court of appeals and the rules of the office of chief inspector. These moneys are paid to the sheriff who shall distribute the moneys solely in accordance with the provisions of section fifteen, article five, chapter seven of this code. Amendments made to this section during the regular session of the Legislature, two thousand one, are effective after the thirtieth day of June, two thousand one.
(b) A magistrate shall assess costs in the amount of two five dollars and fifty cents for issuing a sheep warrant and the appointment and swearing appraisers and docketing the proceedings.
(c) In each criminal case which must be tried by the circuit court but in which a magistrate renders some service, costs in the amount of ten fifteen dollars shall be imposed by the magistrate court and is certified to the clerk of the circuit court in accordance with the provisions of section six, article five, chapter sixty-two of this code.
Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the contrary, any fee increase in this section enacted by the Legislature in the two thousand two regular session shall be deposited in the courthouse facilities improvement fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
CHAPTER 59. FEES, ALLOWANCES AND COSTS;
NEWSPAPERS; LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS.

ARTICLE 1. FEES AND ALLOWANCES.

§59-1-10. Fees to be charged by clerk of county commission.
For the purpose of this section, the word "page" is defined as being a paper writing of not more than legal size, 8 ½" x 14".
The clerk of the county commission shall charge and collect the following fees:
(a) When a writing is admitted to record, for receiving proof of acknowledgment thereof, entering an order in connection therewith, endorsing clerk's certificate of recordation thereon and indexing in a proper index, where the writing is a:
(1) Deed of conveyance (with or without a
plat), trust deed, fixture filing or security
agreement concerning real
estate lease $10.00 20.00
(2) Financing, continuation, termination or
other statement or writing permitted to be filed
under chapter forty-six of this code $10.00 20.00
(3) Plat or map (with no deed of conveyance) $10.00 20.00
(4) Service discharge record No Charge
(5) Any document or writing other than those
referenced in subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4)
of
this subsection $5.00 10.00
(6) If any document or writing contains more
than five pages, for each additional page $1.00 2.00
(b) For administering any oath other than
oaths by officers and employees of the state,
political subdivisions of the state, or a public
or quasi public entity of the state or
a political
subdivision of the state, taken in his or her
official capacity $5.00 10.00
(c)(1) For issuance of marriage license and
other duties pertaining to the marriage license
(including preparation of the application,
administrating the oath, registering and recording
the license, mailing acknowledgment of minister's
return to one of the licensees and notification to
a licensee after sixty days of the nonreceipt of
the minister's return) $25.00 50.00
(2) One dollar of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into the state treasury as a state registration fee in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the treasury under article twelve, chapter eleven of this code;
(3) Fifteen dollars of the marriage license fee received pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into the state treasury for the family protection shelter support act in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the treasury under article twelve, chapter eleven of this code.
(d)(1) For a copy of any writing or document,
if it is not otherwise provided for $1.50 3.00
(2) If the copy of the writing or document
contains more than two pages, for each additional
page

$1.00 2.00

(3) For annexing the seal of the commission or
clerk to any paper $1.00 2.00
(4) For a certified copy of a birth certificate,
death certificate or marriage license $5.00 10.00
Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the contrary, any fee increase in this section enacted by the Legislature in the two thousand two regular session shall be deposited in the courthouse facilities improvement fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
§59-1-11. Fees to be charged by clerk of circuit court.
(a) The clerk of a circuit court shall charge and collect for services rendered as such clerk the following fees, and such fees shall be paid in advance by the parties for whom such services are to be rendered:
(1) For instituting any civil action under the rules of civil procedure, any statutory summary proceeding, any extraordinary remedy, the docketing of civil appeals, or any other action, cause, suit or proceeding, eighty-five one hundred five dollars;
(2) Beginning on and after the first day of January, two thousand two, for instituting an action for medical professional liability, two hundred fifty dollars;
(3) Beginning on and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, for instituting an action for divorce, separate maintenance or annulment, one hundred thirty-five sixty-five dollars;
(4) For petitioning for the modification of an order involving child custody, child visitation, child support or spousal support, eighty-five one hundred five dollars; and
(5) For petitioning for an expedited modification of a child support order, thirty-five dollars.
(b) In addition to the foregoing fees, the following fees shall likewise be charged and collected:
(1) For preparing an abstract of judgment, five ten dollars;
(2) For any transcript, copy or paper made by the clerk for use in any other court or otherwise to go out of the office, for each page, fifty cents one dollar;
(3) For action on suggestion, ten fifteen dollars;
(4) For issuing an execution, ten fifteen dollars;
(5) For issuing or renewing a suggestee execution, including copies, postage, registered or certified mail fees and the fee provided by section four, article five-a, chapter thirty-eight of this code, three five dollars;
(6) For vacation or modification of a suggestee execution, one dollar two dollars;
(7) For docketing and issuing an execution on a transcript of judgment from magistrate's court, three five dollars;
(8) For arranging the papers in a certified question, writ of error, appeal or removal to any other court, five ten dollars;
(9) For postage and express and for sending or receiving decrees, orders or records, by mail or express, three five times the amount of the postage or express charges;
(10) For each subpoena, on the part of either plaintiff or defendant, to be paid by the party requesting the same, fifty cents one dollar;
(11) For additional service (plaintiff or appellant) where any case remains on the docket longer than three years, for each additional year or part year, twenty twenty-five dollars.
(c) The clerk shall tax the following fees for services in any criminal case against any defendant convicted in such court:
(1) In the case of any misdemeanor, fifty-five seventy-five dollars; and
(2) In the case of any felony, sixty-five one hundred dollars; and
(3) For processing home incarceration fees pursuant to section seven, article eleven-b, chapter sixty-two of this code, fifty dollars per case.
(d) No such clerk shall be required to handle or accept for disbursement any fees, cost or amounts, of any other officer or party not payable into the county treasury, except it be on order of the court or in compliance with the provisions of law governing such fees, costs or accounts.
Notwithstanding any provision in this code to the contrary, any fee increase in this section enacted by the Legislature in the two thousand two regular session shall be deposited in the courthouse facilities improvement fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
§59-1-14. Fees to be charged by sheriffs.
The county commission shall determine the amount which the sheriff may charge, which charges shall not exceed the following:
For serving on any person an order, notice,
summons or other process where the body is not
taken, except a subpoena served on a witness,
and making return thereof$20.00 25.00
For summoning a witness $20.00 25.00
For serving on any person an attachment or
other process under which the body is taken$20.00 25.00
For levying an attachment on real estate and
making the return$20.00 25.00
For making any other levy$20.00 25.00
For conveying a prisoner to or from jail, for
each mile of necessary travel either in
going or returning$ .25

For taking any bond$ 1.00 2.00
When a jury is sworn in court, for
summoning and impaneling such jury$ 1.00 2.00
For serving a writ of possession $20.00 25.00
For issuing receipt to purchaser at
delinquent tax sale$ 1.00 2.50
The county commission, giving due regard to the cost thereof, may from time to time prescribe the amount which the sheriff may charge for keeping any property or in removing any property. When, after distraining or levying, he or she neither sells nor receives payment, and either takes no bond or takes one which is not forfeited, he or she shall, if guilty of no default, have (in addition to the one dollar for a bond, if one was taken) a fee of three dollars, unless this be more than half of what his or her commission would have amounted to if he or she had received payment; in which case he or she shall (whether a bond was taken or not) have a fee of one dollar at the least, and so much more as is necessary to make the said half of his or her commission. The commission to be included in a forthcoming bond (when one is taken) shall be five percent on the first three hundred dollars of the money for which the distress or levy is made, and two percent on the residue of such money; but such commission shall not be received, in whole or in part, except as hereinbefore provided, unless the bond be forfeited, or the amount (including the commission) be paid to the plaintiff. An officer receiving payment in money, or selling property, shall have the like commission of five percent on the first three hundred dollars of the money paid or proceeds from such sale, and two percent on the residue, except that when such payment or sale is on an execution on a forthcoming bond, his or her commission shall be only half what it would be if the execution were not on such bond. Any amounts collected by the sheriff pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a separate account of the county general fund and used by the sheriff for the expenses of providing the services herein described. Any surplus funds that remain in this separate account on the last day of the fiscal year, and have not been expended for the purposes herein described, shall revert to the county general fund.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, any fee increase in this section enacted by the Legislature in the two thousand two regular session shall be deposited in the courthouse facilities improvement fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.

ARTICLE 2. COSTS GENERALLY.

§59-2-17. Fees of prosecuting attorney.

The clerk shall include in the costs, for fees of the prosecuting attorney, the following:
(a) In cases of misdemeanor, or an action upon a bond for a violation of the license laws, ten fifteen dollars;
(b) In a case of bastardy, ten fifteen dollars;
(c) In a suit or proceeding upon a forfeited recognizance upon behalf of the state, five seven and one-half percent upon the amount recovered and paid into the treasury;
(d) In cases of felony, thirty fifty dollars;
(e) In any other case of the state, if a different fee is not prescribed, ten fifteen dollars.
Such fees shall be collected and accounted for as provided in article one of this chapter, but shall not in any case be paid out of the county or state treasury.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, any fee increase in this section enacted by the Legislature in the two thousand two regular session shall be deposited in the courthouse facilities improvement fund created by section six, article twenty-six, chapter twenty-nine of this code.





NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase certain county clerk, circuit clerk, sheriff, prosecuting attorney and magistrate court fees, and to dedicate those fee increases to the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.