COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 521
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, Sprouse and Plymale)
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[Originating in the Committee on Natural Resources;
reported February 20, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §20-14-8 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to civil penalties issued for
criminal and civil violations in the Hatfield-McCoy Regional
Recreation Area.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-14-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§20-14-8. Civil and criminal penalties.
(a) Any person who violates any of the rules promulgated by
the board under authority of pursuant to this article is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall for each offense
be fined not more than five hundred dollars for each offense
.
Circuit court, magistrate court and municipal court have concurrent
jurisdiction over misdemeanor violations.
(b)
Any person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a
misdemeanor in violation of subsection (a) of this section shall
pay a civil penalty of one hundred dollars as costs for investigation and prosecution of the case, in addition to any other
court costs that the court is otherwise required by law to impose
upon a convicted person.
(c) Any person who violates any of the rules promulgated by
the board pursuant of this article relating to permits or failure
to purchase a permit, safety violations or other civil violations
is subject to a civil penalty of one hundred dollars.
Authority
rangers shall issue citations for civil violations.
(d) All civil penalties for civil violations received pursuant
to this section shall be remitted to the authority
for deposit, on
or before the last day of each month,
with the State Treasurer in
the State Treasury to the credit of a special revenue fund to be
known as the
Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area Fund,
which is hereby
created
for the benefit of the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area
. T
he
clerk of the circuit court, magistrate court or municipal court in
which the civil penalties for misdemeanors are imposed shall, on or
before the last day of each month,
transmit the civil penalties to
the State Treasurer to the credit of the
Hatfield-McCoy Recreation
Area Fund
.
Expenditures for purposes set forth in this section are
not authorized from collections but are to be made only in
accordance with appropriation and in accordance with the provisions
of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon fulfillment
of the provisions set forth in article two, chapter eleven-b of
this code. Amounts collected which are found, from time to time,
to exceed the funds needed for the purposes set forth in this
article may be transferred to other accounts or funds and designated for other purposes by appropriation of the Legislature.
_______
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is allow
civil penalties for
misdemeanors, and for civil violations, such as failure to purchase
a permit or safety violations, in the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation
Area.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)