Senate Bill No. 162
(By Senators Schoonover, Love and Ross)
____________
[Introduced January 16, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article one, chapter
thirty-five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to removing the
ten-acre restriction on the holding of real estate by
religious schools.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article one, chapter thirty-five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
§35-1-8. Quantity of real estate trustee may take and hold.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section,
the trustee or trustees of any individual church, parish,
congregation or branch of any religious sect, society or
denomination within this state may take and hold at any one time
for each church, parish or congregation not to exceed no more than ten acres of land in any incorporated city, town or village,
and not to exceed no more than sixty acres out of such city, town
or village.
(b) The limitation provided in subsection (a) of this
section does not apply to property that is held and used as a
school by the trustee or trustees of any individual church,
parish, congregation or branch of any religious sect, society or
denomination within this state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow religious
schools to own real property in excess of ten acres.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.