Senate Bill No. 84
(By Senator Barnes)
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[Introduced January 11, 2006; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §61-3-20 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to making embezzlement from a
county, district, school district or municipal corporation a
felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than ten years;
and requiring that a special prosecutor be appointed when a
county officer, agent, clerk or servant is accused of
embezzlement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-3-20 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-20. Embezzlement.
If any officer, agent, clerk or servant of this state, or of any county, district, school district or municipal corporation, or
of any banking institution, or other corporation, or any officer of
public trust in this state, or any agent, clerk or servant of any
firm or person, or company or association of persons not
incorporated, embezzles or fraudulently converts to his
or her own
use, bullion, money, bank notes, drafts, security for money or any
effects or property of any other person, which shall have come into
his
or her possession, or been placed under his
or her care or
management, by virtue of his
or her office, place or employment, he
or she shall be is guilty of the larceny thereof,
If such guilty
person be an officer, agent, clerk or servant of any banking
institution, he shall be guilty of which is a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the penitentiary a
correctional facility not less than ten years. And it shall not be
necessary to describe in the indictment, or to identify upon the
trial, the particular bullion, money, bank note, draft or security
for money which is so taken, converted to his
or her own use or
embezzled by him
or her.
And whenever any officer, agent, clerk or servant of this
state, or of any county, district, school district or municipal
corporation, shall appropriate or use for his or her own benefit,
or for the benefit of any other person, any bullion, money, bank
notes, drafts, security for money or funds belonging to this state
or to any such county, district, school district or municipal corporation, he
or she shall is be held to have embezzled the same
and be guilty of the larceny thereof
and is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a correctional
facility not less than ten years. In the prosecution of
any such
the officer, agent, clerk or servant of this state or of any
county, district, school district or municipal corporation charged
with appropriation or use for his
or her own benefit or the benefit
of any other person, any bullion, money, bank notes, drafts,
security for money or funds belonging to this state or to any
county, district, school district or municipal corporation, it
shall not be necessary to describe in the indictment, or to
identify upon the trial, the particular bullion, money, bank notes,
drafts, security for money or funds appropriated or used for his
or
her own benefit or for the benefit of any other person.
The prosecuting attorney of the county in which the
embezzlement occurs as provided by this section is disqualified
from the prosecution of any county officer, agent, clerk or servant
accused of embezzlement under the provisions of this section. The
chief circuit judge of the county in which the alleged embezzlement
occurs shall request the appointment of a special prosecutor as
provided in section six, article four, chapter seven of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make embezzlement from
a county, district, school district or municipal corporation a
felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than ten years. The bill requires that a special prosecutor be appointed for
prosecutions of county officers, agents, clerks and servants
charged with embezzlement under the bill.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.