COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 460
(By Senator Yoder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 2, 1994.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter
forty-eight-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating generally to
the designation of the regions for the children's advocates;
providing for more equal distribution of caseloads among the
children's advocates; and permitting consideration of
various factors in designating those regions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, chapter forty-eight-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CHILDREN'S ADVOCATE.
§48A-3-2. Placement of children's advocates throughout the
state; supervision; office procedures.
(a) The child advocate office shall employ twenty-five
employees in the position of children's advocate.
Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundredninety-four, the director of the child advocate office shall
apportion the state into geographical regions which may be single
attorney regions or multiple attorney regions, or a combination
of both. County boundaries shall be strictly observed and
counties may not be divided among two or more regions. The
director shall construct regions which provide, as nearly as is
practicable, for equal caseload distribution among the children's
advocates. Mathematical exactness as to caseload is not required
and deviations from an absolute standard may be based upon
concerns, other than caseload, including, but not limited to,
deviations dictated by the following considerations:
(1) Judicial circuits;
(2) Geographical features which affect the time and expense
of travel;
(3) Traditional patterns of practice by members of the bar;
and
(4) Population variances between regions.
(b) Each children's advocate shall be appointed by the
director of the child advocate office. The children's advocates
shall be duly qualified attorneys licensed to practice in the
courts of this state. Children's advocates shall be exempted
from the appointments in the indigent cases which would otherwise
be required pursuant to article twenty-one, chapter twenty-nine
of this code.
(c) Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the director
from temporarily assigning, from time to time as caseload may
dictate, a children's advocate from one geographical area to
another geographical area.
(d) The children's advocate is an employee of the child
advocate office.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the
reconstruction of regions for purposes of assigning children's
advocates and redistributing their caseloads based on various
considerations.)