H. B. 2523
(By Delegate Rowe)
[Introduced March 9, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary..]
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; 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 collect or pay these fees to 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; and section four, article twenty-nine,
chapter thirty 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 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 collected
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 person who fails to collect, account for or pay over any
of the moneys with which he may be chargeable to the regional
jail and prison development fund is guilty of a misdemeanor, and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined up to one thousand
dollars, imprisoned in the county jail for one year, or both
fined and imprisoned. In addition, that person may be removed
from office for malfeasance.
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; criminalpenalty 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 a
traffic 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 herebycreated. 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. All
moneys 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 person who fails to collect, account for or pay over any
of the moneys with which he may be chargeable to the crime
victims compensation fund is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined up to one thousand dollars,
imprisoned in the county jail for one year, or both fined and
imprisoned. In addition, that person may be removed from office
for malfeasance.
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 criminal
law 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 thegovernor'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 person who fails to collect, account for or pay over any
of the moneys with which he may be chargeable under this section
is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined up to one thousand dollars, imprisoned in the county
jail for one year, or both fined and imprisoned. In addition,
that person may be removed from office for malfeasance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a criminal
offense for the failure of a governmental agency or officer or
employee, who is responsible for collecting fees for Crime
Victims Compensation Fund, Regional Jail Fees or Law Enforcement
Training, to pay these fees to the proper fund or account.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.