H. B. 3122
(By Delegates Manuel, Caputo, Amores,
Doyle, Tabb and Webster)
[Introduced February 21, 2003; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-seven-b, relating to the state lottery act generally;
providing for the interception of certain lottery winnings;
and providing for the deduction from lottery winnings certain
debts owed to state agencies and victims of crime by lottery
winners.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-seven-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22. STATE LOTTERY ACT.
§29-22-27b. Interception of lottery winnings.
(a) The lottery commission in consultation with the supreme
court of appeals, the state tax department, the bureau of
employment programs and any other state agency seeking to recover
debts owed to the state or restitution owed to victims of crime
shall develop a procedure for intercepting lottery winnings of
persons indebted the state or who are required by a court to pay
restitution to victims of crime.
(b) The agencies and entities set out in subsection (a) of
this section shall provide the lottery commission with:
(1) The full name of the debtor or restitution obligor and any
other name known to be used by that person;
(2) The social security number of the person; and
(3) The amount of the arrearage.
(c) If a debtor or restitution obligor, under the provisions
of this section is overdue in restitution payments, wins a lottery
prize to be paid by check directly by the lottery commission, the
commission shall send a notice to the debtor or obligor that:
(1) The debtor or obligor has won a prize to be paid by the
lottery commission;
(2) The commission has received notice from a court or agency that the debtor or obligor is in arrearage to the court or agency
in the amount specified;
(3) State law requires the commission to withhold the prize
and to pay it toward the debt or obligation arrearage;
(4) The debtor or obligor may appeal to the commission if he
or she disputes the existence or the amount of the arrearage;
(5) If an appeal is not filed within fifteen days after the
date of the notice, the commission will transfer the prize or
the
part of the prize that equals the arrearage to the court or agency
requesting it;
(6) On receipt of a notice from the commission, a debtor or
obligor who disputes the existence or amount of the arrearage may
appeal the proposed transfer; and
(7) If an appeal is not filed within fifteen days after the
date of the notice, the commission shall transfer the amount of the
prize withheld to the requesting court or agency.
(8) If the debtor or obligor appeals the proposed transfer,
after a hearing the commission shall notify the court or agency
that the withheld prize shall be:
(i) Paid to the debtor or obligor;
(ii) Transferred to the court or agency; or
(iii) In specified amounts, partly paid to the debtor or
obligor and partly transferred to the court or agency.
The commission, in consultation with the supreme court of
appeals and the involved state agencies shall promulgate rules
under article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to
implement the provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
interception of lottery winnings when the winner is a debtor of a
state agency or court or is in arrears in the payment of court
ordered restitution to a victim of crime.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.