Senate Bill No. 619
(By Senator Burnette)
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[Introduced February 18, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article two-a, chapter fourteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated section fourteen-a,
relating to the payment of up to five thousand dollars from
the crime victims' compensation fund to the prosecuting
attorney on behalf of the murder victim to pay the costs of
investigation and prosecution of the case.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two-a, chapter fourteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fourteen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. COMPENSATION AWARDS TO VICTIMS OF CRIMES.
§14-2A-14a. Compensation award to prosecutor on behalf of murder
victim.
The judge or commissioner shall approve an award of
compensation on behalf of a murder victim to the prosecuting
attorney who prosecuted the perpetrator or perpetrators of the
murder. An award made under this section shall take into
consideration the cost of expenses incurred in the investigation
and prosecution of the crime, excluding salaries, wages and
benefits of persons involved in the investigation and prosecution:
Provided, That no award made under this section may exceed five
thousand dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for a
compensation award of up to five thousand dollars to be made on
behalf of a murder victim to the prosecuting attorney who
prosecutes the perpetrator or perpetrators of the murder.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.