COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 201
(By Senator White)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 22, 2007.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-3-39f and §61-3-39h of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to worthless
checks; exempting complaints for obtaining property in return
for worthless check from the requirement of being sworn to
before a prosecuting attorney or law-enforcement officer;
preventing assessment of costs against a complainant who is
paid restitution for worthless check charges dismissed as part
of a plea agreement; requiring the defendant in a worthless
check prosecution to pay court costs for each worthless check
charge of which he or she stands convicted; and requiring the
defendant to pay the additional court costs for each worthless
check charge dismissed as a result of a plea agreement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-3-39f and §61-3-39h of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-39f. Manner of filing complaint for warrant; form.
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of section one, article one, chapter sixty-two of this code, a complaint for warrant for
violations of
sections thirty-nine and thirty-nine-a of this
article need not be made upon oath before a magistrate but may be
made upon oath before any magistrate court clerk or other court
officer authorized to administer oaths or before a notary public in
any county of the state and may be delivered by mail or otherwise
to the magistrate court of the county wherein venue lies.
(B) A complaint for warrant for violations of section thirty-
nine-a of this article shall be deemed sufficient if it is in form
substantially as follows:
"State of West Virginia
County of ....................., to wit:
......................................, upon oath complains that:
(a) Within one year past, on the ...... day of ............,
20...., in the county stated above, .............................
("the maker") unlawfully issued and delivered to
........................... a check, draft or order with the
following words and figures:
......................... 20.... No...........
..............................................
(Name of Bank)
Pay to the Order of ..................... $.......... Dollars
For.........................................................
when the maker did not have funds on deposit in or credit with this
bank with which to pay the check, draft or order upon presentation
against the peace and dignity of the State of West Virginia. The
complainant therefore prays a warrant issue and that the maker be apprehended and held to answer the warrant and dealt with in
relation thereto according to the law.
(b) At the time the check, draft or order was delivered and
before it was accepted there was either on the check or on a record
in the possession of the complainant the following information
regarding the identity of the maker:
(1) Name....................................................
(2) Residence address.......................................
(3) Business address........................................
(4) Mailing address.........................................
(5) Motor vehicle operator's number.........................
(6) Home phone..............................................
(7) Work phone..............................................
(8) Place of employment.....................................
That since the time the check, draft or order was delivered
the complainant has ascertained to the best of his or her knowledge
and belief the following facts concerning the maker:
Full name .......................................................
Home address ....................................................
Home phone no............... Business phone no...................
Place of employment .............................................
Race ............ Sex .............. Height .....................
Date of birth ...................................................
Day Month Year
..................................., Complainant
.................................... ............
Address Phone No.
(c) The complainant's bank or financial institution has imposed on or collected from the complainant a service charge in
the amount of $........................ in connection with the
check, draft or order described above.
Taken, subscribed and sworn to before me, this ..............
day of ......................, 20.....
.............................................
.............................................
(Title)
My commission expires the ........ day of ..................,
20....."
(C) The failure to supply information indicated in part (b) or
(c) of the foregoing complaint for warrant shall not affect the
sufficiency thereof.
§61-3-39h. Payment of costs in worthless check cases; disposition
of certain costs.
(a) In any prosecution under section thirty-nine or thirty-
nine-a of this article, the costs
as that may otherwise be imposed
against the drawer of any check, draft or order shall be imposed on
the person initiating the prosecution if:
(1) Payment of the check, draft or order is accepted by the
payee or holder thereof after the filing of a complaint for warrant
and the charge is subsequently withdrawn or dismissed at the
request of the complainant: Provided, That the provisions of this
subdivision do not apply where a charge is dismissed and
restitution is paid as a condition of a plea agreement. The
defendant shall be assessed costs for the prosecution of each
charge of which he or she stands convicted and the fee for court
costs assessed pursuant to section thirty-nine-g of this article for each charge dismissed as a result of the plea agreement;
if
(2) The payee or holder had reason to believe that the check,
draft or order would be dishonored;
or if
(3) The
same check, draft or order was postdated; or
if
(4) The matter is dismissed for failure to prosecute.
(b) Costs collected by magistrate court for issuance of notice
as authorized by section thirty-nine-g of this article may not be
paid into the special county fund created by the provisions of
section four, article three, chapter fifty of this code but shall
be accounted for separately and retained by the county in a fund
designated the Worthless Check Fund until the sheriff
shall issue
issues warrants in furtherance of the allowable expenses
specifically provided for by this section. Such costs may not be
included in any calculation of the amount of funds to be retained
by the county under the provisions of section four, article three,
chapter fifty of this code.
(c) A county may, after agreement with the court
administrator's office of the Supreme Court of Appeals, appropriate
and spend from the Worthless Check Fund herein established such
sums as
shall be are necessary to pay or defray the expenses of
providing a deputy sheriff to serve warrants for worthless check
offenses and to pay or defray the expenses of providing additional
deputy clerks in the office of the magistrate court clerk. After
payment of these expenses, or after a determination that these
services are not necessary, a county may appropriate and spend from
the fund the sums necessary to defray:
(1) The expenses of providing bailiff and service of process
services by the sheriff;
to defray
(2) The cost of acquiring or renting magistrate court offices
and providing utilities and telephones
therefor and telephone
service to such offices;
to defray
(3) The cost of complying with section thirty-nine-i
herein of
this article; and
to defray
(4) The expenses of
such other services
which are
to be
provided to magistrate courts by the county.
_______
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to: (1) Allow citizens to
file complaints for obtaining property by worthless check; (2) to
prevent complainants from being assessed court costs for worthless
check charges dismissed as a result of a plea agreement; and (3) to
require the defendant to pay court costs when convicted of a
worthless check charge and to pay the initial notice fee ($25) for
each charge dismissed as a result of a plea agreement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
