H. B. 2934
(By Delegates Hines, Amores and Wills)
[Introduced February 26, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter
five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to the duties of the
attorney general.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, chapter five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ATTORNEY GENERAL.
ยง5-3-2. Act as counsel for state; duties and powers as to
prosecuting attorneys; defense of national
guardsmen.
The common law attorney general shall appear as counsel for
the state in all causes pending in the supreme court of appeals,
or in any federal court, in which the state is interested; he or she shall appear in any cause in which the state is interested
that is pending in any other court in the state, on the written
request of the governor, and when such the appearance is entered
he the attorney general shall take charge of and have control of
such the cause; he or she shall defend all actions and
proceedings against any state officer in his the officer's
official capacity in any of the courts of this state or any of
the federal courts when the state is not interested in such the
cause against such the officer, but should the state be
interested against such the officer, he the attorney general
shall appear for the state; he or she shall institute and
prosecute all civil actions and proceedings in favor of or for
the use of the state which may be necessary in the execution of
the official duties of any state officer, board or commission on
the written request of such the officer, board or commission; he
or she shall, when requested by the prosecuting attorney of a
county wherein where a state institution of correction is
located, provide attorneys for appointment as special prosecuting
attorneys to assist the prosecuting attorney of said the county
in the prosecution of criminal proceedings when, in the opinion
of the circuit judge of said the county, or a justice of the West
Virginia supreme court of appeals, extraordinary circumstances
exist at said the institution which render the financial
resources of the office of the prosecuting attorney inadequate to
prosecute said the cases; he or she may consult with and advise the several prosecuting attorneys in matters relating to the
official duties of their office, and may require a written report
from them of the state and condition of the several causes, in
which the state is a party, pending in the courts of their
respective counties; he or she may require the several
prosecuting attorneys to perform, within the respective counties
in which they are elected, any of the legal duties required to be
performed by the attorney general which are not inconsistent with
the duties of the prosecuting attorneys as the legal
representatives of their respective counties; when the
performance of any such duties by the prosecuting attorney
conflicts with his or her duties as the legal representative of
his the county, or for any reason any prosecuting attorney is
disqualified from performing such the duties, the attorney
general may require the prosecuting attorney of any other county
to perform such the duties in any county other than that in which
such the prosecuting attorney is elected and for the performance
of which duties outside of the county in which he or she is
elected the prosecuting attorney shall be paid his or her actual
traveling and other expenses out of the appropriation for
contingent expenses for the department for which such the
services are rendered; the attorney general shall keep in proper
books, a register of all causes prosecuted or defended by him or
her in behalf of the state or its officers and of the proceedings
had in relation thereto, and deliver the same to his or her successor in office; and he the attorney general shall preserve
in his office all his or her official opinions and publish the
same them in his or her biennial report.
Upon request of any member of the West Virginia national
guard who has been named defendant in any civil action arising
out of that guardsman's action while under orders from the
governor relating to national guard assistance in disasters and
civil disorders, the attorney general shall appear as counsel for
and represent such the guardsman.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to adjust the duties of
the Attorney General under common law.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.