Senate Bill No. 373
(By Senator Bailey)
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[Introduced February 17, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two-a, article nine, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the criminal
investigation division of the state tax division; number of
investigators; nonclassified; special fund; and right to
carry firearms.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two-a, article nine, chapter eleven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. CRIMES AND PENALTIES.
§11-9-2a. Criminal investigation division established; funding
of same.
A criminal investigation section division, consisting of no
more than twelve twenty investigators plus necessary support
staff, all of whom are exempt from the classified service, ishereby established within the state tax division for the purpose
of assuring compliance with laws and rules and regulations
pertaining to the taxes or credits established by articles
eleven, eleven-a, eleven-b, twelve, twelve-a, twelve-b, thirteen,
thirteen-a, thirteen-b, thirteen-c, thirteen-d, thirteen-e,
thirteen-f, thirteen-g, thirteen-h, fourteen, fourteen-a,
fifteen, fifteen-a, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,
twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-six of this chapter, and
articles twenty, twenty-one and twenty-three, chapter forty-seven
of this code. Charitable bingo fees imposed under sections six
and six-a, article twenty of said chapter; charitable raffle fees
imposed under section seven, article twenty-one of said chapter;
and charitable raffle boards and games fees imposed under section
three, article twenty-three of said chapter in an amount not to
exceed three hundred fifty four hundred thousand dollars in any
fiscal year shall be deposited in a special revenue account
established in the office of the treasurer and shall be used to
support compliance expenditures relating to the establishment,
maintenance and support of such criminal investigation section
division. Prior to the close of the fiscal year, any moneys in
the special revenue account in excess of fifty thousand dollars
shall be transferred to the general revenue fund.
Any employee of the criminal investigation section division
so designated by the tax commissioner who shall have a background
in accounting and who shall be certified as a law-enforcement
officer pursuant to article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of thiscode, or its equivalent, shall have all the lawful powers
delegated to members of the department of public safety except
including the power to carry firearms to enforce the provisions
of this article in any county or municipality of this state. The
commissioner shall establish such additional standards as he or
she deems applicable or necessary. Any such employee shall,
before entering upon the discharge of his or her duties, execute
a bond with security in the sum of three thousand five hundred
dollars, payable to the state of West Virginia, conditioned for
the faithful performance of his or her duties, as such, and such
bond shall be approved as to form by the attorney general, and
the same shall be filed with the secretary of state and preserved
in his or her office. The department division of public safety,
any county sheriff, or deputy sheriff, or any municipal police
officer, upon request by the tax commissioner, is hereby
authorized to assist the tax commissioner in enforcing the
provisions of this article and the criminal penalty provisions of
this article or any article of this chapter administered under
this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the name of the
criminal investigation section to the criminal investigation
division and to increase the amount of money placed in a special
account and to permit members of the division to carry firearms.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.