ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 688
(By Senators Chafin and Kessler)
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[Passed April 14, 2001; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter
fifty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing the amount of
costs to be collected in criminal proceedings in magistrate
court; mandating the use of the increase; and extending the
time in which incarcerated persons may pay costs and fines.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, chapter fifty of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. COSTS, FINES AND RECORDS.
§50-3-2. Costs in criminal proceedings.
(a) In each criminal case before a magistrate court in which
the defendant is convicted, whether by plea or at trial, there is
imposed, in addition to other costs, fines, forfeitures or penalties as may be allowed by law: (1) Costs in the amount of
fifty-five dollars; and (2) an amount equal to the one-day per diem
provided for in subsection (h), section ten, article twenty,
chapter thirty-one of this code. A magistrate may not collect
costs in advance. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code,
a person liable for fines and court costs in a criminal proceeding
in which the defendant is confined in a jail or prison and not
participating in a work release program shall not be held liable
for the fines and court costs until ninety days after completion of
the term in jail or prison. A magistrate court shall deposit five
dollars from each of the criminal proceedings fees collected
pursuant to this section in the court security fund created in
section fourteen, article three, chapter fifty-one of this code.
A magistrate court shall, on or before the tenth day of the month
following the month in which the fees imposed in this section were
collected, remit an amount equal to the one-day per diem provided
for in subsection (h), section ten, article twenty, chapter thirty-
one of this code from each of the criminal proceedings in which the
fees specified in this section were collected to the magistrate
court clerk or if there is no magistrate court clerk to the clerk
of the circuit, together with information as may be required by the
rules of the supreme court of appeals and the rules of the office
of chief inspector. These moneys are paid to the sheriff who shall
distribute the moneys solely in accordance with the provisions of
section fifteen, article five, chapter seven of this code. Amendments made to this section during the regular session of the
Legislature, two thousand one, are effective after the thirtieth
day of June, two thousand one.
(b) A magistrate shall assess costs in the amount of two
dollars and fifty cents for issuing a sheep warrant and the
appointment and swearing appraisers and docketing the proceedings.
(c) In each criminal case which must be tried by the circuit
court but in which a magistrate renders some service, costs in the
amount of ten dollars shall be imposed by the magistrate court and
is certified to the clerk of the circuit court in accordance with
the provisions of section six, article five, chapter sixty-two of
this code.