Senate Bill No. 515
(By Senators Jones, Plymale, Humphreys,
Wooton and Whitlow)
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[Introduced March 22, 1993; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article six-a, chapter forty-nine of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eleven, relating to child sexual abuse; establishing the
state multidisciplinary commission; providing for
appointment terms and powers of the commission; and listing
responsibilities of the commission.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six-a, chapter forty-nine of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eleven, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. REPORTS OF CHILDREN SUSPECTED TO BE ABUSED OR
NEGLECTED.
§49-6A-11. Multidisciplinary commission.
There is hereby created a multidisciplinary commission onchild sexual abuse. The commission shall be comprised of the
secretary of health and human resources or designee, the attorney
general or designee, the supreme court administrator or designee
and not less than two persons, appointed by the governor, who
have been directly affected by a perpetrator of child sexual
abuse. Terms of members appointed to the commission by the
governor are four years. A member may be reappointed.
The attorney general or designee shall chair meetings of the
commission. The commission shall appoint an executive director
who shall have authority to employ additional employees as needed
to carry out the provisions of this section.
The commission shall:
(1) Prepare and issue a model protocol for local
multidisciplinary teams regarding investigation and prosecution
of child sexual abuse;
(2) Review and approve protocols prepared by local
multidisciplinary teams;
(3) Advise local multidisciplinary teams on the
investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse;
(4) Receive data on child sexual abuse cases collected by
the prosecutor's advisory council;
(5) Collect data on the operation of local multidisciplinary
teams;
(6) Seek funding to support special projects relating to the
operation of local multidisciplinary teams;
(7) Receive and review complaints regarding localmultidisciplinary teams, and make appropriate recommendations;
and
(8) Make recommendations to the governor and the Legislature
for changes in state programs, legislation, regulations,
policies, budgets, and treatment and service standards which will
facilitate effective intervention of child sexual abuse cases,
the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of child sexual
abuse, and which will improve the opportunity for victims of
child sexual abuse to receive treatment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a state
Multidisciplinary Commission on Child Sexual Abuse to provide
leadership in data collection, developing investigation protocols
and providing support for local programs.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.