SB373 SUB1
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 373

(By Senator Bailey)

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[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization;

reported February 23, 1994.]

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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 requiring a report by the tax commissioner.

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 division, consisting of no more than twenty investigators plus necessary support staff, all of whom are exempt from the classified service, is hereby established within the state tax division for the purpose ofassuring compliance with laws and rules 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-Dh, 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 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 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 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 this code, or its equivalent, shall have all the lawful powers delegated to members of the department of public safety except the power to carry firearms to enforce the provisions of thisarticle 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 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.
On the first day of July of each year, beginning in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the tax commissioner shall present a written report to the joint committee on government operations on compliance with the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, activities of the division and dispensation of funding.