COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 501
(By Senator Tomblin, Mr. President)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 8, 2002.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-four, article three,
chapter eleven-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to appointment
of employees of the state auditor to serve as deputy
commissioners of delinquent and nonentered lands.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-four, article three, chapter eleven-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. SALE OF TAX LIENS AND NONENTERED, ESCHEATED AND WASTE
AND UNAPPROPRIATED LANDS.
§11A-3-34. Deputy commissioners of delinquent and nonentered
lands; bond.
The auditor shall appoint for each county in the state a
deputy commissioner of delinquent and nonentered lands. Persons serving in that capacity when this article takes effect shall
continue to serve, subject to the provisions of this article. The
auditor shall make new appointments from time to time thereafter
whenever vacancies occur, or when in the auditor's judgment it is
deemed advisable. The auditor may promulgate rules respecting the
tenure of deputy commissioners. In the absence of such rules, the
deputy commissioner for each county shall, so long as he or she
satisfies the requirements of this section in respect to
professional qualifications and bonding, continue to act without
reappointment until the auditor designates his or her successor.
The auditor shall appoint deputy commissioners in such numbers
and to serve such counties as the auditor deems considers advisable
to effect the purposes of this article. Appointments, other than
an employee of the auditor's office, shall be limited to persons
duly licensed to practice law in this state. A Except for an
employee of the auditor's office, any person appointed as deputy
commissioner for a single county shall reside in said county. Any
person appointed as deputy commissioner for more than one county
shall reside in one of the counties for which he or she has been
appointed.
Whenever in respect to any land the deputy commissioner, in
his or her own judgment or in the opinion of the auditor, is
disqualified or otherwise unable to serve, because of his or her
personal interest, or because of his or her representation of
clients in matters affecting such the land, or because of vacancies
or failure to act, or whenever the auditor considers it in the best interest of the state, the auditor may appoint an employee of his
or her office, to assume all of the disqualified deputy
commissioner's rights, duties, responsibilities and liabilities
serve as a deputy commissioner relating to such the land. When a
deputy commissioner is an employee of the auditor all compensation
and commissions that would otherwise be paid to a deputy
commissioner shall be credited by the sheriff to the auditor for
deposit into the operating fund created pursuant to section thirty-
six of this article.
The deputy commissioner shall be is subject to the orders and
control of the auditor, shall be is accountable to him or her, and
shall serve as his serves as the auditor's local agent within in
the county. It shall be his is the deputy commissioner's duty to
do whatever is required of him by the auditor or by the provisions
of this article. The deputy commissioner before entering upon his
or her duties shall give a bond, with satisfactory corporate
surety, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his or her
duties and the payment of any forfeitures incurred. The penalty of
such the bond shall be not less than at least twenty-five thousand
dollars nor and not more than one hundred thousand dollars, as the
auditor may direct. The premium therefore for the bond shall be
paid by the auditor out of the operating fund for the land
department in his or her office.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the State
Auditor to appoint employees of the Auditor's office to serve as Deputy Commissioners of Delinquent and Nonentered lands and to
provide for the disposition of the statutorily created compensation
and commissions of the Deputy.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.