Senate Bill No. 270
(By Senator Kessler and Mitchell)
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[Introduced January 21, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article four, chapter
seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to permitting
investigators to accept other employment with approval of
county commission.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article four, chapter seven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, REWARDS AND LEGAL ADVICE.
§7-4-2. Rewards for apprehension of persons charged with crime
and expenditure of money for detection of crime;
appointment of investigators of crime.
The prosecuting attorney of any county, with the approval of the county commission, or of the governor, or of the court of
the county vested with authority to try criminal offenses, or of
the judge thereof in vacation, may, within his or her
discretion, offer rewards for the apprehension of persons
charged with crime, or may expend money for the detection of
crime. Any money expended under this section shall, when
approved by the prosecuting attorney, be paid out of the county
fund, in the same manner as other county expenses are paid:
Provided, That the prosecuting attorneys of the several counties
of the state may, with the approval of the county commissions of
their respective counties, entered of record, appoint to assist
them in the discharge of their official duties, trained and
qualified full-time or part-time investigators of crime. Such
Full-time investigators shall accept no other public employment
or employment in a private police or investigative capacity
during the term of their appointment without prior approval of
the county commission. and They shall be paid such salary and
expenses as may be fixed by the county commission. Such The
expenses shall be itemized and sworn to by the investigator upon
presentation to the county commission.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, the prosecuting attorney of any county, with the
consent of the judge of the court of competent jurisdiction and the county commission, may appoint an investigator of crime who
need not be a resident of this state.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to
permit an investigator
employed full time by a prosecuting attorney to perform work for
other public or private entities with the approval of the county
commission.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.