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WV Code § 14-2-19 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-19. Claims Under Existing Appropriations

A claim arising under an appropriation made by the Legislature during the fiscal year to which the appropriation applies, and falling within the jurisdiction of the commission, may be submitted by:1. A claimant whose claim has been rejected by the state agency concerned or by the State Auditor.2. The head of the state agency concerned in order to obtain a determination of the matters in issue.3. The State Auditor in order to obtain a full hearing and consideration of the merits.When such submittal is made, the clerk shall give a copy of the submittal to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance. If the Joint Committee on Government and Finance shall so direct, the clerk shall place such claim on its docket. Upon its placement on the docket, the regular procedure, so far as applicable, shall govern the consideration of the claim by the commission. If the commission finds that the claimant should be paid, it shall certify the approved claim and award to the head of the appropriate state agency, the State Auditor and to the Governor. The Governor may thereupon instruct the Auditor to issue his or her warrant in payment of the award and to charge the amount thereof to the proper appropriation. The Auditor shall forthwith notify the state agency that the claim has been paid. Such an expenditure shall not be subject to further review by the Auditor upon any matter determined and certified by the commission.
WV Code § 14-2-20 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-20. Claims Under Special Appropriations

Whenever the Legislature makes an appropriation for the payment of claims against the state, then accrued or arising during the ensuing fiscal year, the determination of claims and the payment thereof may be made in accordance with this section. However, this section shall apply only if the Legislature in making its appropriation specifically so provides and only after specific direction to hear the claim is given by the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.The claim shall be considered and determined by the regular or shortened procedure, as the case may be, and the amount of the award shall be fixed by the commission. The clerk shall certify each approved claim and award, and requisition relating thereto, to the Auditor. The Auditor thereupon shall issue his or her warrant to the Treasurer in favor of the claimant. The Auditor shall issue his or her warrant without further examination or review of the claim except for the question of a sufficient unexpended balance in the appropriation.
WV Code § 14-2-21 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-21. Periods of Limitation Made Applicable

The commission shall not take jurisdiction of any claim, whether accruing before or after the effective date of this article (July 1, 1967), unless notice of such claim be filed with the clerk within such period of limitation as would be applicable under the pertinent provisions of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, if the claim were against a private person, firm or corporation and the Constitutional immunity of the state from suit were not involved and such period of limitation may not be waived or extended. The foregoing provision shall not be held to limit or restrict the right of any person, firm or corporation who or which had a claim against the state or any state agency, pending before the Attorney General on the effective date of this article (July 1, 1967), from presenting such claim to the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, nor shall it limit or restrict the right to file such a claim which was, on the effective date of this article (July 1, 1967), pending in any court of record as a legal claim and which, after such date was or may be adjudicated in such court to be invalid as a claim against the state because of the Constitutional immunity of the state from suit.
WV Code § 14-2-22 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-22. Compulsory Process

In all hearings and proceedings before the commission, the evidence and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence may be required. Subpoenas may be issued by the commission for appearance at any designated place of hearing. In case of disobedience to a subpoena or other process, the commission may invoke the aid of any circuit court in requiring the evidence and testimony of witnesses, and the production of books, papers and documents. Upon proper showing, the circuit court shall issue an order requiring witnesses to appear before the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission; produce books, papers and other evidence; and give testimony touching the matter in question. A person failing to obey the order may be punished by the circuit court as for contempt.
WV Code § 14-2-23 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-23. Inclusion of Awards in Budget

The clerk shall certify to the department of finance and administration, on or before November 20, of each year, a list of all awards recommended by the commission to the Legislature for appropriation. The clerk may certify supplementary lists to the Governor to include subsequent awards made by the commission. The Governor shall include all awards so certified in his or her proposed budget bill transmitted to the Legislature. Any other provision of this article or of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the clerk shall not certify any award which has been previously certified.
WV Code § 14-2-24 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-24. Records to Be Preserved

The record of each claim considered by the commission, including all documents, papers, briefs, transcripts of testimony and other materials, shall be preserved by the clerk for a period of ten years from the date of entry of the commission’s last order and shall be made available to the Legislature or any committee thereof for the reexamination of the claim. When any such documents, papers, briefs, transcripts and other materials have been so preserved by the clerk for such ten-year period, the same shall be transferred to the state records administrator for preservation or disposition in accordance with the provisions of article eight, chapter five-a of this code without cost, either to the commission or the Legislature.
WV Code § 14-2-25 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-25. Reports of the Commission

The clerk shall be the official reporter of the commission. He or she shall collect and edit the approved claims, awards and statements, shall prepare them for submission to the Legislature in the form of an annual report and shall prepare them for publication.Claims and awards shall be separately classified as follows:(1) Approved claims and awards not satisfied but referred to the Legislature for final consideration and appropriation.(2) Approved claims and awards satisfied by payments out of regular appropriations.(3) Approved claims and awards satisfied by payment out of a special appropriation made by the Legislature to pay claims arising during the fiscal year.(4) Claims rejected by the commission with the reasons therefor.The commission may include any other information or recommendations pertaining to the performance of its duties.The commission shall transmit its annual report to the presiding officer of each house of the Legislature, and a copy shall be made available to any member of the Legislature upon request therefor. The reports of the commission shall be published biennially by the clerk as a public document. The biennial report shall be filed with the clerk of each house of the Legislature, the Governor and the Attorney General.
WV Code § 14-2-26 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-26. Fraudulent Claims

A person who knowingly and willfully presents or attempts to present a false or fraudulent claim, or a state officer or employee who knowingly and willfully participates or assists in the preparation or presentation of a false or fraudulent claim, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. A person convicted, in a court of competent jurisdiction, of violation of this section shall be fined not more than $1,000 or confined for not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of such court. If the convicted person is a state officer or employee, he or she shall, in addition, forfeit his or her office or position of employment, as the case may be.
WV Code § 14-2-27 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-27. Conclusiveness of Determination

Any final determination against the claimant on any claim presented as provided in this article shall forever bar any further claim in the commission arising out of the rejected claim.
WV Code § 14-2-28 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-28. Award as Condition Precedent to Appropriation

(a) It is the policy of the Legislature to make no appropriation to pay any claims against the state, cognizable by the commission, unless the claim has first been passed upon by the commission.(b) Because a decision of the commission is a recommendation to the Legislature based upon a finding of moral obligation, and the enactment process of passage of legislation authorizing payments of claims recommended by the commission is at legislative discretion, no right of appeal exists to findings and award recommendations of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission and they are not subject to judicial review.
WV Code § 14-2-29 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2. Claims Against the State|§14-2-29. Severability

If any provision of this article or the application thereof to any person or circumstance be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the article which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this article are declared to be severable.
WV Code § 14-2A-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-1. Short Title

The act heretofore created by this article and known and cited as the "West Virginia Crime Reparation Act of 1981" shall henceforth be known and cited as the "West Virginia Crime Victims Compensation Act." Any and all funds existing under the West Virginia crime reparation act of 1981 shall continue for the purposes set forth in this article, notwithstanding the amendments to the name of the act or a redesignation of the special revenue fund in the state Treasury as herein provided.
WV Code § 14-2A-2 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-2. Legislative Findings; Purpose and Intent

The Legislature finds and declares that a primary purpose of government is to provide for the safety of citizens and the inviolability of their property. To the extent that innocent citizens are victims of crime, particularly violent crime, and are without adequate redress for injury to their person or property, this primary purpose of government is defeated. The people of West Virginia are demonstrably peaceful, and, in comparison to the citizens of other states, suffer a lower crime rate. In establishing the West Virginia Crime Reparation Act of 1981, the Legislature stated its findings that the provision of governmental services to prevent crime is not wholly effective and expressed its intent to establish a system of compensation for the victims of crime which would provide a partial remedy for the failure of the state to fully achieve this primary purpose of government.The Legislature now finds that the system of compensation established by the act as an experimental effort by the Legislature of this state on behalf of its people, after having been reviewed and perfected in its initial stages, should be continued and retained in the legislative branch of government as an expression of a moral obligation of the state to provide partial compensation to the innocent victims of crime for injury suffered to their person or property.
WV Code § 14-2A-5 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-5. Jurisdiction

Any commissioner of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission individually, or the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission en banc, shall have jurisdiction to approve awards of compensation arising from criminally injurious conduct, in accordance with the provisions of this article, if satisfied by a preponderance of the evidence that the requirements for an award of compensation have been met.
WV Code § 14-2A-6 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-6. Compensation of Commissioners Serving Under This Article

Compensation of commissioners for services performed under this article, and actual expenses incurred in the performance of duties as commissioners under this article, shall be paid out of the crime victims compensation fund.
WV Code § 14-2A-8 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-8. Commissioners' Oath of Office

Each commissioner shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe to the oath prescribed by section five, article four of the Constitution of the State. The oath shall be filed with the clerk.
WV Code § 14-2A-9 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-9. Claim Investigators; Compensation and Expenses; Paralegals and Support Staff

The West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, with the approval of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates, is hereby authorized to hire not more than four claim investigators to be employed within the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, who shall carry out the functions and duties set forth in section twelve of this article. Claim investigators shall serve at the pleasure of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates and under the administrative supervision of the clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission. The compensation of claim investigators shall be fixed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and such compensation, together with travel, clerical and other expenses of the clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission relating to a claim investigator carrying out his or her duties under this article, including the cost of obtaining reports required by the investigator in investigating a claim, shall be payable from the crime victims compensation fund as appropriated for such purpose by the Legislature.The West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, with the approval of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates, is hereby authorized to hire as support staff such paralegal or paralegals and secretary or secretaries to be employed within the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, necessary to carry out the functions and duties of this article. Such support staff shall serve at the will and pleasure of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission and under the administrative supervision of the clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission.
WV Code § 14-2A-11 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-11. Procedure for Filing of Application

The clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission shall establish a procedure for the filing, recording and processing of applications for an award of compensation.
WV Code § 14-2A-13 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-13. Notice to Claimant of Claim Investigator’s Recommendation; Evaluation of Claim by Commissioner

(a) The clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, upon receipt of the claim investigator’s finding of fact and recommendation, shall forward a copy of the finding of fact and recommendation to the claimant with a notice informing the claimant that any response, in the form of objections or comments directed to the finding of fact and recommendation, must be filed with the clerk within thirty days of the date of the notice. After the expiration of such thirty-day period, the clerk shall assign the claim to a commissioner. (b) The commissioner to whom the claim is assigned shall review the finding of fact and recommendation and any response submitted by the claimant and, if deemed appropriate, may request the claim investigator to comment in writing on the claimant’s response. The commissioner shall, within forty-five days after assignment by the clerk, evaluate the claim without a hearing and either deny the claim or approve an award of compensation to the claimant.
WV Code § 14-2A-14a (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-14a. Establishing a Limitation on Benefits

All claims shall be considered closed and no longer eligible for benefits at the expiration of available benefits or 10 years after filing the claim, whichever occurs first: Provided, That this provision shall not apply to claimants or victims receiving benefits under 14-2A-14(g)(2) of this code.
WV Code § 14-2A-15 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-15. Hearings

(a) If either the claim investigator or the claimant disagrees with the approval of an award or the denial of a claim in the summary manner set forth in the preceding sections of this article, the claim investigator or the claimant, or both, shall file with the clerk a request for hearing. Such request shall be filed within twenty-one days after notification by the commissioner of his or her decision.(b) Upon receipt of a request for hearing, the clerk shall set a date and time for hearing, shall advise the Attorney General and the claimant of the receipt of the request and docketing of the claim, and shall request the Attorney General to commence negotiations with the claimant.(c) During the period of negotiations and pending hearing, the Attorney General, shall, if possible, reach an agreement with the claimant regarding the facts upon which the claim is based so as to avoid the necessity for the introduction of evidence at the hearing. If the parties are unable to agree upon the facts, an attempt shall be made to stipulate the questions of fact in issue.(d) The hearing held in accordance with this section shall be before a single commissioner to whom the claim has not been previously assigned. Hearings before a commissioner may, in the discretion of such hearing officer, be held at such locations throughout the state as will facilitate the appearance of the claimant and witnesses.(e) The hearing shall be conducted so as to disclose all material facts and issues. The commissioner may examine or cross-examine witnesses. The commissioner may call witnesses or require evidence not produced by the parties; may stipulate the questions to be argued by the parties; and may continue the hearing until some subsequent time to permit a more complete presentation of the claim.(f) After the close of the hearing the commissioner shall consider the claim and shall conclude his or her determination, if possible, within thirty days.(g) The commission shall adopt and may from time to time amend rules of procedure to govern proceedings before the commission in accordance with the provisions of this article. The rules shall be designed to assure a simple, expeditious and inexpensive consideration of claims. The rules shall permit a claimant to appear in his or her own behalf or be represented by counsel and provide for interests of the state to be represented by the Attorney General in any hearing under this section at no additional cost to the fund or the state.Under its rules, the commission shall not be bound by the usual common law or statutory rules of evidence. The commission may accept and weigh, in accordance with its evidential value, any information that will assist the commission in determining the factual basis of a claim.
WV Code § 14-2A-17 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-17. Contempt Sanction Not Available

If a person refuses to comply with an order under this article, or asserts a privilege, except privileges arising from the attorney-client relationship, so as to withhold or suppress evidence relevant to a claim for an award of compensation, the commission or a commissioner thereof may make any just order, including denial of the claim, but shall not find the person in contempt. If necessary to carry out any of his or her powers and duties, the claim investigator may petition the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission for an appropriate order, including an order authorizing the investigator to take the depositions of witnesses by oral examination or written interrogatory, but the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission shall not find a person in contempt for refusal to submit to a mental or physical examination.
WV Code § 14-2A-18 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 14. Claims Due and Against the State|Article 2A. Compensation Awards to Victims of Crimes|§14-2A-18. Effect of No Criminal Charges Being Filed or Conviction of Offender

The commission or a commissioner thereof, may approve an award of compensation whether or not any person is convicted for committing the conduct that is the basis of the award. The filing of a criminal charge shall be a prerequisite for receipt of compensation unless it is determined that no charges were filed due to the identity of the perpetrator being unknown: Provided, That no criminal charges need be filed if: (1) The claimant is an adult at the time the conduct giving rise to the claim occurred and no criminal charges were filed for reasons other than the desire of the claimant and a law-enforcement agency confirms that the available evidence supports a finding that a crime occurred; or (2) the claimant was a juvenile at the time the conduct giving rise to the claim occurred. Proof of conviction of a person whose conduct gave rise to a claim is conclusive evidence that the crime was committed, unless an application for rehearing, an appeal of the conviction or certiorari is pending, or a rehearing or new trial has been ordered.The commission or a commissioner thereof, shall suspend, upon a request of the claim investigator, the proceedings in any claim for an award of compensation pending disposition of a criminal prosecution that has been commenced or is imminent.