H. B. 3051
(By Delegates Caputo, Manchin and Longstreth)
[Introduced March 10, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs and Homeland Security then
Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §59-1-10 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing veterans' death
certificates to families and funeral directors at no cost.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §59-1-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. FEES AND ALLOWANCES.
§59-1-10. Fees to be charged by clerk of county commission.
For the purpose of this section, the word "page" is defined as
being a paper or electronic writing of not more than legal size, 8
½" x 14".
The clerk of the county commission shall charge and collect
the following fees:
(a) When a writing is admitted to record, for receiving proof
of acknowledgment thereof, entering an order in connection
therewith, endorsing clerk's certificate of recordation thereon and indexing in a proper index, where the writing is a:
(1) Deed of conveyance (with or without a plat), trust deed,
fixture filing or security agreement concerning real estate lease,
$15.
(2) Financing, continuation, termination or other statement or
writing permitted to be filed under chapter forty-six of this code,
$10.
(3) Plat or map (with no deed of conveyance), $10.
(4) Service discharge record, no charge.
(5) Any document or writing other than those referenced in
subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this subsection, $10.
(6) If any document or writing contains more than five pages,
for each additional page, $1.
For any of the documents admitted to record pursuant to this
subsection, if the clerk of the county commission has the
technology available to receive these documents in electronic form
or other media, the clerk shall set a reasonable fee to record
these writings not to exceed the cost for filing paper documents.
(7) Eleven dollars of each recording fee received pursuant to
subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be retained by the county
clerk for the operation of that office and $4 of each of the
aforesaid recording fees together with $5 of the recording fee
collected pursuant to subdivision (5) of this section, shall be
paid by the county clerk into the State Treasurer and deposited in
equal amounts for deposit into the Farmland Protection Fund created
in article twelve, chapter eight-a of this code for the benefit of the West Virginia Agricultural Land Protection Authority and into
the Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund created in article two-g,
chapter five-b of this code:
Provided, That the funds deposited
pursuant to this subdivision may only be used for costs, excluding
personnel costs, associated with purpose of land conservation, as
defined in subsection (f), section seven, article two-g, chapter
five-b of this code.
(b) For administering any oath other than oaths by officers
and employees of the state, political subdivisions of the state or
a public or quasi-public entity of the state or a political
subdivision of the state, taken in his or her official capacity,
$5.
(c) For issuance of marriage license and other duties
pertaining to the marriage license (including preparation of the
application, administrating the oath, registering and recording the
license, mailing acknowledgment of minister's return to one of the
licensees and notification to a licensee after sixty days of the
nonreceipt of the minister's return), $35.
(1) One dollar of the marriage license fee received pursuant
to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into the State
Treasury as a state registration fee in the same manner that
license taxes are paid into the Treasury under article twelve,
chapter eleven of this code;
(2) Fifteen dollars of the marriage license fee received
pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the county clerk into
the State Treasury for the Family Protection Shelter Support Act in the same manner that license taxes are paid into the Treasury under
article twelve, chapter eleven of this code;
(3) Ten dollars of the marriage license fee received pursuant
to this subsection shall be deposited in the Courthouse Facilities
Improvement Fund created by section six, article twenty-six,
chapter twenty-nine of this code.
(d) (1) For a copy of any writing or document, if it is not
otherwise provided for, $1.50.
(2) If the copy of the writing or document contains more than
two pages, for each additional page, $1.
(3) For annexing the seal of the commission or clerk to any
paper, $1.
(4) For a certified copy of a birth certificate, death
certificate or marriage license, $5.
Upon request, a county clerk shall issue without cost up to
five certified copies of a veteran's death certificate to a
veteran's family members and dependents. Additional copies must be
purchased at the regular fee except when one death certificate is
necessary to obtain benefits from the federal or state government
as provided in section twelve-a, article four, chapter fifty-one of
this code. Family members, dependents or funeral directors with
written permission from the family members or dependents may pick
up the certificates at the office of the clerk of the county
commission. For purposes of this subdivision, the word "veteran"
shall be construed to mean any person who has served in the Armed
Forces of the United States, Military Reserves or National Guard.
(e) For copies of any record in electronic form or a medium
other than paper, a reasonable fee set by the clerk of the county
commission not to exceed the costs associated with document search
and duplication.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for up to five
free certified copies of a veteran's death certificate for a
veteran's family members and dependants.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.