reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 53. Extraordinary Remedies › Article 8. Personal Safety Orders › §53-8-14. Service by Law Enforcement

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, all law-enforcement officers are hereby authorized and required to serve all pleadings and orders filed or entered pursuant to this article on Sundays and legal holidays. No law-enforcement officer may refuse to serve any pleadings or orders entered pursuant to this article. Law enforcement shall attempt to serve all orders without delay: Provided, That service of process shall be attempted within seventy-two hours of law enforcement's receipt of the order. If service is not made, law enforcement shall continue to attempt service on the respondent until proper service is made.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 53. Extraordinary Remedies › Article 8. Personal Safety Orders › §53-8-15. Rules and Forms

(a) Authorized. -- The Supreme Court of Appeals may adopt rules and forms to implement the provisions of this article.
(b) Petition form. --
(1) The Supreme Court of Appeals is requested to adopt a form for a petition under this article.
(2) A petition form shall contain notice to a petitioner that an individual who knowingly provides false information in a petition filed under this subtitle is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, is subject to the penalties specified in section four of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 53. Extraordinary Remedies › Article 8. Personal Safety Orders › §53-8-16. Limitation on Use of Information

Nothing in this article authorizes the inclusion of information contained in petition, pleadings or orders provided for by this article to be submitted to any local, state, interstate, national or international systems of criminal identification pursuant to section twenty-four, article two, chapter fifteen of this code. Nothing in this section prohibits the West Virginia State Police from processing information through its criminal identification bureau with respect to any actual charge or conviction of a crime.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-1. Bodies Which May Exercise Power of Eminent Domain

The United States of America, the State of West Virginia, and every corporate body politic heretofore or hereafter created by the Constitution or statutes of the state, and every corporation heretofore or hereafter organized under the laws of, or authorized to transact business in, the state, for any purpose of internal improvement for which private property may be taken or damaged for public use as authorized in section two of this article, shall have the right of eminent domain, and may exercise the same to the extent and in the manner provided in this chapter, and subject to the restrictions and limitations provided by law.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-2a. Notice; Good Faith Purchase

Prior to initiation of any condemnation proceeding pursuant to slum and blight, the applicant must make a reasonable attempt to notify all parties subject to a petition for condemnation provided in section two of this article, and attempt to enter into negotiations for purchase of the property with the owners. The applicant shall make an offer in good faith for the purchase of the property subject to the condemnation prior to initiation of the condemnation proceeding.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-3. Entry on Lands

Any incorporated company or body politic, invested with the power of eminent domain under this chapter, by its officers, servants and agents may enter upon lands for the purpose of examining the same, surveying and laying out the lands, ways and easements which it desires to appropriate, provided no injury be done to the owner or possessor of the land; but no company or body politic, under the authority of this section, shall throw open fences or enclosures on any land, or construct its works through or upon the same, or in anywise injure the property of the owner or possessor, without his consent, until it shall have obtained the right so to do in the manner provided in this chapter.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-3a. Entry by Political Body to Obtain Data; Compensation to Owner

If the applicant be the State of West Virginia, or any agency or political subdivision thereof, and if the applicant shall have given the person residing thereon, if any, at least three days' notice of its intent, the applicant, by its authorized contractors, officers, agents, and employees, may enter and bring necessary or desirable machinery, equipment and tools upon any property, waters and premises in this state, to make thereon such surveys, inspections, examinations, investigations, tests, soundings and drillings as the applicant shall deem necessary or desirable for the purpose for which the property, or an interest or right therein, is proposed to be taken, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, laying out the lands, ways and easements, and acquiring data and information deemed necessary or desirable by the applicant in contemplation of acquiring the property, waters or premises, or an interest or right therein, by the power of eminent domain. Such entry or acts authorized by this section shall not be deemed either a trespass or an entry under any condemnation proceeding which may then be pending. Such entry or acts shall not continue longer than one year, except by the consent in writing of the owner, or by authority of the circuit court of the county wherein the property lies. It shall be the duty of the applicant to compensate the owner reasonably for the use of his property and to pay him the amount of any actual or demonstrable damages proximately resulting from any such entry or acts. In the event the applicant and the owner cannot agree as to the amount of such damage, if any, the applicant shall institute a condemnation proceeding for the purpose of determining the amount thereof, if any. If the applicant shall fail to institute such a proceeding within sixty days after receipt of demand therefor from the owner, by certified or registered mail, the owner may have a writ of mandamus in the circuit court of the county wherein such entry or act authorized by this section was made or performed, to compel the applicant to institute and prosecute to completion a condemnation proceeding for such purpose.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-4. Restrictions as to Dwelling Houses -- Railroad and Other Internal Improvement Companies

No railroad company, or other company of internal improvement, in locating and constructing its lines shall invade the dwelling house of any person, or any space within sixty feet thereof, without the consent of the owner, unless necessary so to do in passing through a narrow gorge, defile or narrow pass, or to avoid undesirable curves, angles, and grades, in the construction of its line, or to eliminate such curves, angles, and grades in any line heretofore constructed. This prohibition shall not apply to the territory within any municipal corporation, nor to the acquisition by condemnation of land for any purpose of the company other than right of ways for its main lines and transmission lines.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-5. Same -- Lines for Transportation of Gas, Oil, Coal, etc., and Storage Tanks

No line for the transportation of natural or artificial gas under pressure or for the transportation of petroleum oil or for the transportation of coal and its derivatives and mixtures and combinations thereof with any substance, and no tank for storing oil or natural gas, shall be laid or constructed within one hundred feet of any occupied dwelling house, without the consent of the owner. This section shall not apply to the territory within municipal corporations.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-5a. Restrictions as to the Exercise of the Right of Eminent Domain by the West Virginia Housing Development Fund

(1) The West Virginia Housing Development Fund, in exercising the power of eminent domain as provided for in section six, article eighteen, chapter thirty-one of this code, shall allege and prove, and the trier of fact shall find, in addition to other requirements of the law, the following:
(a) That resort is had to condemnation proceedings only after all other reasonable alternatives for acquisition of the site in question have been explored and found impractical;
(b) That the housing sought to be developed on the site in question is necessitated by circumstances existing in the local community or area where the site is located as follows:
(i) An extreme shortage of land suitable for housing exists in the local community or area and that no practical alternative site is available for purchase by negotiation;
(ii) A serious shortage of housing exists in the local community or area, as evidenced by an insufficient number of housing units, by low vacancy rates, or by a high proportion of substandard or overcrowded housing;
(iii) An open, active and free market for adequate housing does not exist in the local community or area;
(iv) The real property which is the subject of the proposed condemnation proceeding is not a part of, or contiguous to, the owner's principal residence or the curtilage thereof; and
(v) The owner of the real property which is the subject of the condemnation proceeding is seized of title to the surface of five thousand acres of land or more within this state, without reduction for any lease, license or easement to which the estate may be subject: Provided, That any portion of the five thousand acres or more of land which is being used or operated in the production of agricultural products by the owner of his lessee (under bona fide written lease executed and delivered prior to the institution of a proceeding in condemnation subject to the restriction provided in this section) shall not be taken by condemnation under the provisions of this section. In the case of a corporate owner, the court shall aggregate the holdings of the corporation, the holdings of other corporate bodies which have legally enforceable control of a majority of the shares of the corporate owner, and the holdings of other corporate bodies which have a majority of their shares subject to the legally enforceable control of the corporate owner. Such aggregate holdings shall be used to determine whether the corporate owner owns five thousand acres of land or more within this state.
(2) If, for any reason, the provisions of subdivision (b), subsection one of this section are held unconstitutional or invalid, then upon the finding of such unconstitutionality or invalidity, the West Virginia Housing Development Fund shall not exercise the powers of eminent domain provided for in section six, article eighteen, chapter thirty-one of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-6. Quantity of Land Acquired

The land acquired by condemnation by any railroad company for its main depots, termini, buildings, machine shops, railroad yards and railroad facilities, and the land or interest therein so acquired by any company incorporated for a work of internal improvement along its line generally, or for any other public use authorized by section two of this article, shall be limited to such quantity as is necessary for the purpose or purposes for which it is appropriated.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-7. Roadways; Crossings

If any company shall acquire land under the provisions of this chapter, and, in the construction and operation of its work of internal improvement, obstruct or impede the owner of residue of the tract of land from crossing the land so acquired, when such crossing is essential for the proper use of the remaining land of the owner, it shall permit the owner of the land to construct, maintain and use suitable crossings over the land so acquired. If such land shall have theretofore been cleared and fenced, or shall thereafter be cleared and fenced, the company shall construct and forever maintain suitable farm crossings to adequately serve the tract of land as a whole, and, if a railroad company, cattle guards and fences, on both sides of the lands condemned and appropriated.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-8. Estate Acquired; Taxation

Any corporation, or body politic, authorized to acquire private property for public use under the provisions of this chapter, may acquire an estate in fee simple, or any lesser estate therein. As to any land in which a railroad company shall acquire an estate less than a fee, for the construction of any part of its railroad, and as to any land in which any other condemnor shall acquire an estate less than a fee and in the use made of such lands shall deprive the former owner of the possession thereof and the right to cultivate and graze the same, such lands shall be assessed for taxation against the condemnor and his successor in title the same as if the tract had been appropriated in fee; and the payment of the taxes thereon by such condemnor in any case shall inure to the benefit of the holder of the estate in the land not condemned and appropriated, and shall preserve the same from forfeiture as to him
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-9. Crossing or Alteration of Course of Works of Another Entity; Civil Action

If any entity having the power of eminent domain under other provisions of this article including any railroad company, canal company, company organized for the purpose of transporting oil or natural or manufactured gas, or both, by means of pipeline, company organized for the purpose of transporting coal and its derivatives and all mixtures and combinations thereof with any substance by means of pipes or otherwise, telephone or telegraph company, company operating an electric transmission line, private corporation or public corporation operating a system of pipelines for transporting water, private corporation or public corporation operating a sewer system for public use, the West Virginia department of highways, or any county court, deems it necessary in the construction or relocation of its works, or any part thereof, to cross any other railroad, canal, sewer line, pipeline, any state or other public road at grade or otherwise, telephone or telegraph line or electric transmission line, such crossing may be made provided said works be so constructed as not to impede the passage or transportation of persons, property, commodities or sewage along, over or through the same. If any such company, private corporation, public corporation, West Virginia department of highways or county court desire that the course of any other railroad, canal, sewer line, pipeline, state, or other public road, telephone or telegraph line, electric transmission line, or any stream which is not a public highway, be altered to avoid the necessity of any crossing, or of frequent crossings, or to facilitate the crossing thereof, or the construction of a parallel work, the alteration may be made in such manner as may be agreed between the said party desiring such alteration and the owner of such other facility or land to be affected thereby. In case the parties interested fail to agree upon such crossing or alteration as is desired, said party desiring such crossing or alteration may bring a civil action, and in such action the court may, in a proper case, order that any proper crossing, or alteration, may be made upon payment of just compensation for the property or interest in property to be taken and upon payment of damages, if any, to the residue thereof beyond all benefits to be derived thereby. Following said civil action, and if the court order such crossing or alteration may be made, said party desiring such crossing or alteration may thereupon proceed under article two of this chapter to obtain the right to make such crossing or alteration and to have determined the amount of compensation and damages owing as a result thereof.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-10. Taking Wood and Other Materials and Water; Deposits of Waste; Cutting Trees

Any railroad company may, in the manner provided by this chapter, enter upon and take from any land adjacent to or in the vicinity of its road, wood, earth, gravel, shale, stone or other material necessary to be used in constructing, maintaining, repairing, operating, enlarging or altering its road, and in like manner may acquire land for any such purpose, or for the purpose of depositing and wasting thereon earth, gravel, shale, stone or other material excavated by it in the construction, maintenance, repair, operation, alteration or enlargement of its railroad. Any railroad company may in like manner take, impound and consume any and all water not required by the owner thereof and necessary for the use of its engines, whether locomotive or stationary, and such land contiguous to such water as shall be required for the construction of suitable wells or reservoirs, locating its pumps and machinery, the erection of necessary buildings and for a right of way thereto; and may also acquire such right of way as may be necessary for pipes to be used for conducting such water to the proper locality: Provided, That the owner of the land on which the water condemned is situated, or the riparian owners below affected, shall have the right to use water necessary for purposes connected with the proper use and operation of their land, or for domestic purposes or the watering of domestic animals. Any railroad company may take and cut down any standing trees that may be in danger of falling upon or obstructing its railroad, making compensation therefor in the manner provided by this chapter.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-11. Specific Purposes Not Limitation

The power of eminent domain conferred on any incorporated company or body politic by sections one and two of this article shall not be deemed or construed to be limited or restricted in any manner by the enumeration by any other provision of this code of any specific purpose for which such power may be exercised.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 1. Right of Eminent Domain › §54-1-12. Facilities for Moving Fuel Coal to Coal Fired Steam Electric Power Plants

The owner or operator of a coal fired steam electric power plant, the output of which plant is for public use, shall have the right to construct, maintain and operate roads and rail facilities for transporting fuel coal to such power plant as a part of said plant and the same shall be considered to be for public use.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-1. Jurisdiction

In any case in which property may lawfully be taken for a public use, application may be made by petition to the circuit court or the judge thereof in vacation, of the county in which the estate is situated, to appoint commissioners to ascertain a just compensation to the owners of the estate proposed to be taken. If a tract lies partly in one county and partly in another, the application in relation thereto may be made in either county.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-2. Pleadings; Verification; Parties

The pleadings shall be in writing and shall be verified. The petition shall describe with reasonable certainty the property proposed to be taken, and may embrace one or more parcels of land where the ownership is the same. If an estate less than a fee is proposed to be taken, the petition shall describe with reasonable certainty the particular estate less than the fee which it is proposed to take, the name of the owner or owners thereof, the manner and extent of their respective interests. If there are any liens upon or conflicting claims to such real estate, the petition shall state the nature and amount of such liens and claims and the names and places of residence of the persons who hold the same, so far as known to the petitioner. Where there are persons interested in the property proposed to be taken whose names are unknown to the applicant, or it is not known to the applicant whether there are any other persons interested in the property proposed to be taken, or there be any contingent or executory interest or estate in such property which is liable to vest in or to open and let in persons not in being, such fact shall be stated in the petition and such persons, if any, shall be made parties defendant to such petition by the general description of parties unknown. The joinder of any person having only a contingent or executory interest in the property proposed to be taken shall not be necessary when the person not joined is virtually represented by any other party or parties defendant; and where such virtual representation exists no order or decree made thereunder shall be deemed erroneous or void because of such nonjoinder. The petition shall also state the use to which the estate sought to be taken is intended to be appropriated.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-2a. Additional Requirement for Condemnation Proceeding for Right-of-Way for Certain High Voltage Transmission Line

In addition to the requirements set forth in section two of this article, a public utility, person or corporation required under section eleven-a, article two, chapter twenty-four of this code to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction and location of a high voltage transmission line, shall file a certified or attested copy of such certificate with its petition to condemn real or personal property for the construction of such high voltage transmission line. Failure to file such certified or attested copy of such certificate shall result in dismissal of the petition.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-3. Notice; Riparian Owner Affected by Taking of Water

Of such application ten days' notice shall be served on the owners, claimants and persons holding liens, whose interests the applicant seeks to condemn, and the notice may be given either before the petition is presented or afterwards. But where the owners of the real estate proposed to be taken or the persons holding such liens or conflicting claims, or any of them, are nonresidents of the state or their whereabouts is unknown, or they are unknown to the applicant, or there be any persons made parties defendant by the general description of parties unknown as provided in section two of this article, the notice as to them, instead of being thus served, may be given by advertisement containing (by reference to a plat filed for the purpose in the office of the clerk of the circuit court or otherwise) a specific description of the property in which they are interested that is proposed to be taken, and stating the purpose to which it is intended to be appropriated, and the time and place at which a hearing will be asked upon the application, which advertisement shall be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty- nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county.
Where water is to be taken as authorized in section ten, article one of this chapter, notice to riparian owners having lands below the point at which the water is proposed to be taken, and likely to be affected thereby, shall be given by publishing the same as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county. Any such riparian owner may come into court or before the judge of such court in vacation, on the return day of the notice and publication, make himself a party to the proceedings and have his rights passed upon by the commissioner and his damage, if any, ascertained, allowed and paid as in this chapter provided for the taking of lands.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-4. Persons Under Disability

(a) The court shall protect the rights of any person who is under a legal disability because he or she is a protected person, as defined in section two (a), article one, chapter forty-four-a of this code, or incarcerated, and whose ownership interest, lien or other claim to property requires them to be a party in a condemnation action brought pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(b) A protected person who is a party in a condemnation action may be represented by a conservator or guardian or by a limited guardian appointed by the court to represent the protected person in the condemnation action.
(c) An incarcerated person who is a party in a condemnation action and who has an attorney or committee shall be represented by the attorney or committee. An incarcerated person who is a party in a condemnation action who does not have an attorney or committee shall be represented by an attorney appointed by the court.
(d) The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to defend the interests of an unknown owner or owners of property subject to condemnation.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code to the contrary, the provisions of this chapter regarding the procedure in condemnation actions shall be followed.
(f) The court may direct payment of a limited guardian, attorney or guardian ad litem appointed in an amount to be fixed by the court or judge, to be taxed as costs and paid by the applicant.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-4a. Lis Pendens Notice; Effect

At the time of the filing of an eminent domain petition, the applicant may file a notice of the pendency of such proceeding as provided in section two, article eleven, chapter fifty-five of this code, containing the information therein required so far as the provisions therein are applicable. From the time of such filing every purchaser or encumbrancer whose conveyance or encumbrance is not then recorded or docketed shall be deemed a subsequent purchaser or encumbrancer and shall be bound by the proceeding to the same extent and in the same manner as if he were a party therein.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-5. Commissioners; Qualifications

When it shall appear to the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, that proper notice has been given and that the case is one in which the applicant has lawful right to take property for the purposes stated in the petition, upon making just compensation, five disinterested freeholders shall be appointed commissioners to ascertain what will be a just compensation and any damages to the persons entitled thereto, for the property, or interest or right therein, proposed to be taken.
The following persons shall be deemed interested and shall not be appointed as commissioners: Any person who is personally interested in the property, or interest or right therein, proposed to be taken or in the compensation and any damages to be awarded therefor, or who is related by blood or marriage to any person having such personal interest, or who stands in the relation of guardian and ward, master and servant, principal and agent, or partner, real estate broker, or surety to any person having such personal interest, or who has enmity against or bias in favor of any person who has such personal interest, or who is the owner of, or interested in, any real estate over or through which the work of internal improvement will pass. No person shall be deemed interested or incompetent to act as commissioner by reason of his being an inhabitant of the county, district, or municipal corporation, on behalf of which application is made, or holding property therein.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-6. How Commissioners Appointed

The appointment shall be made as follows: Thirteen disinterested freeholders shall be nominated by the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, of whom the applicant may strike off four from the list, and the defendant or defendants may also strike off four, and after eight names are stricken from the list the remaining five shall be the commissioners. But where there is no appearance for the defense, or the right to strike off any one or more names is waived on the part of either the applicant or defendant, or from any cause the full number shall not be stricken off by the parties, the name or additional names, as the case may be, to be stricken from the list in order to reduce the number to five, shall be ascertained by lot under direction of the court or the judge thereof in vacation. The court, or judge thereof in vacation, may for good cause remove any commissioner and fill any vacancy.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-7. Oath of Commissioners

Before entering upon the discharge of his duties, each commissioner shall take an oath, before some person authorized by law to administer it, that he will honestly, faithfully, and impartially ascertain to the best of his skill and judgment what will be a just compensation to the persons entitled thereto for the property, or interest or right therein, proposed to be taken, including, where applicable, any damages to the extent provided by section nine of this article. The oath shall be certified by the person administering it, and shall be filed, with the papers of the proceeding, in the office of the clerk of the court.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-7b. Supervision of Hearings; Appointment, Powers, Duties and Compensation of Court Commissioner; Subpoena of Witnesses, etc.

The court may, and upon motion of any party shall, preside over and supervise all hearings held by the condemnation commission or appoint for such purpose one of its own commissioners, or a special commissioner, to be known as a court commissioner, who shall preside over and supervise all hearings held by the condemnation commission. The person presiding, or the clerk of the court, may sign and issue subpoenas for witnesses, including subpoenas duces tecum, and may swear any witness that the evidence which he will give relating to the matter to be reported by the condemnation commission shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The person presiding shall rule on all questions of evidence, instruct the condemnation commissioners as to the law, and otherwise exercise all the functions of a judge in the trial of a civil action to the extent necessary for the determination of any issues before the condemnation commission. In the event a court commissioner is appointed to preside over and supervise all of the hearings to be held by a condemnation commission such court commissioner shall be allowed for his services a reasonable sum to be fixed by the court, such sum to be taxed in the bill of costs against the moving party.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-8. Powers of Commissioners; Hearings; View of Property

Any three of the commissioners may act in the absence of the others, and any one of them may sign and issue subpoenas for witnesses in like manner as a justice, and with like effect; and may swear any witness who appears before them, that the evidence which he will give relating to the matters to be reported upon by the said commissioners shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They may adjourn their sessions from time to time as shall be necessary; and any person interested may attend in person or by attorney, produce and examine witnesses, read depositions duly taken, and other proper evidence, and be heard, if he requests it, in support of his rights, according to the usages and rules of law.
A view of the property to be taken shall not be required unless a demand therefor is made by a party in interest. In the event a court commissioner is appointed to preside over and supervise all of the hearings to be held by a condemnation commission pursuant to the provisions of section seven-b of this article such court commissioner shall go with the commissioners and shall control the proceedings.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-9. Report of Commissioners

The commissioners, after viewing the property, if a view is demanded, and hearing any proper evidence which is offered shall ascertain what will be a just compensation to the person entitled thereto for so much thereof as is proposed to be taken, or for the interest therein, if less than a fee, and for damage to the residue of the tract beyond all benefits to be derived, in respect to such residue, from the work to be constructed, or the purpose to which the land to be taken is to be appropriated, including, when less than the fee is taken, the actual damage, if any, done, or that may be done, to the fee by such construction, and make report to the following effect: We, the commissioners, appointed by the circuit court of ............ county, (or by the judge thereof in vacation, as the case may be) by an order made on the ........ day of ........ on the application of ............... respectfully report, that having first been duly sworn, we have viewed the real estate owned by ..............., mentioned in the said application, and are of opinion that ........ dollars will be a just compensation for so much of the said real estate as is proposed to be taken by the said applicant, that is to say: (here describe the part to be taken, and the interest therein, if less than a fee, so as to identify the same with reasonable certainty, which description may be supplemented by reference to a plat annexed to the report, or in any manner that would be sufficient in a conveyance) as well as for damages to the residue of the said real estate beyond all benefits which will be derived in respect to such residue from the work to be constructed (or from the purposes to which the part to be taken by said applicant is to be appropriated).
Given under our hands this ........ day of .............
But if the property is proposed to be taken by a company incorporated for construction of a railroad, no damages shall be ascertained for the construction of any farm crossing, fences, or cattle guards, or for keeping the same in repair. The report shall be signed by at least three of the commissioners, and forthwith returned to the clerk's office of the court, to be filed with the papers of the case.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-9a. Separate Findings of Compensation and Damages

If the report of the commissioners includes any sum for damages, in addition to the sum for just compensation for the property, or interest or right therein, proposed to be taken, the commissioners shall, if the owner or owners of the property request the same, state in their report what sum has been fixed as damages.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-10. Proceedings on Report; Trial by Jury

Within ten days after the report required by the provisions of section nine of this article is returned and filed, either party may file exceptions thereto, and demand that the question of the compensation, and any damages to be paid, be ascertained by a jury, in which case a jury of twelve freeholders shall be selected and impaneled for the purpose, as juries are selected in civil actions. But no person shall sit on such jury who would not be eligible to serve as a condemnation commissioner in the proceeding. The cause shall be tried as other causes in such court, except that any person who served as a condemnation commissioner in the proceeding shall not be examined as a witness in regard to just compensation or any damages. The jury, ascertaining the damages or compensation to which the owner of the property, or interest or right therein, proposed to be taken is entitled, shall be governed by sections nine and nine-a of this article except that a view of the property proposed to be taken shall not be required: Provided, That in the event a demand therefor is made by a party in interest, the jury shall be taken to view the property, and in such case, the judge presiding at the trial shall go with the jury and shall control the proceedings: Provided, however, That the value of any leasehold on the property proposed to be taken, that must be paid by the owner thereof to his tenant or tenants, shall be admissible in evidence in any hearing before the condemnation commissioners or in the trial by jury.
If no exceptions be filed to such report, and neither party demand a trial by jury as aforesaid, the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, unless good cause be shown against it, or it be defective or erroneous on its face, shall confirm such report, and order it to be recorded in the proper order book of the court.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-11. Setting Aside Report; Recommittal; New Commissioners

If good cause be shown against the report, or if it be defective or erroneous on its face, the court or judge thereof in vacation, as may seem to be proper, may set it aside or recommit it to the same commissioners for further report; or other commissioners may be appointed in the manner hereinbefore provided, with or without further notice, as the court or judge may order. If the commissioners report their disagreement, or fail to report in reasonable time, other commissioners may in like manner be appointed. And so again, from time to time, as often as may be necessary.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-11a. Waiver of Findings by Commissioners

If at any time prior to the appointment of condemnation commissioners, or in the event condemnation commissioners have been appointed, if at any time prior to the making of a report by the condemnation commissioners pursuant to the provisions of section nine of this article, all of the parties who have appeared in the proceeding agree to waive the findings of the condemnation commissioners and file a stipulation to this effect with the clerk of the court, the question of the compensation and any damages to be paid shall be ascertained by a jury in the manner provided by section ten of this article and a hearing before the condemnation commissioners shall not be necessary. Any such stipulation shall be filed with the papers of this proceeding.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-12. Vesting of Title in Applicant

Except as otherwise provided in this article, at any time within three months after the report, or the verdict of a jury, if there be one, has been confirmed and ordered to be recorded, the sum so ascertained with ten percent interest thereon from the date of the filing of the petition until payment, may be paid by the applicant into court; upon such payment, title to the property, or interest or right therein, so paid for shall be absolutely vested in the applicant in fee simple or to the extent described in the petition: Provided, That in the case of a public road title to the right- of-way only shall absolutely vest in the applicant.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-13. Entry on Land on Payment of Compensation

After such report has once been made, whether it be set aside, recommitted, or new commissioners appointed, or not, or whether a trial by jury be demanded and had or not, the applicant upon paying into court the sum ascertained by such report, with ten percent interest thereon from the date of the filing of the petition until payment, may, notwithstanding the pendency of further proceedings, enter upon, take and use for the purposes specified in the application, that part of the land and property in respect to which such payment is made, and where such payment has been made and possession taken, or where payment has been made without taking such possession in a pending case, it shall have the same effect as if such payment were made or possession taken, or both, in a case hereafter commenced; and no order shall be made or any injunction awarded by any court or judge to stay it in so doing, unless it be manifest that the applicant is insolvent or that it or its officers, agents or servants, are transcending their authority, or that such interposition is necessary to prevent injury which cannot be adequately compensated in damages: Provided, That if the applicant be other than a corporate body politic, before entering upon or taking possession of such property, it shall enter into bond before the court, or judge thereof in vacation, in a penalty prescribed by the judge, with securities approved by him conditioned for the payment to the owner of any additional sums which may be awarded against it in subsequent proceedings as additional compensation and damages for the property so taken.
And where, under authority of section ten, article one of this chapter, wood, earth, gravel, shale, stone, water or other material are sought to be taken, impounded or consumed, the applicant, after such report has been made, whether it be set aside, recommitted or new commissioners appointed, or not, or whether a trial by jury be demanded and had, or not, may, upon payment into court as aforesaid of the sum ascertained by the report of such commissioners, notwithstanding the pendency of further proceedings, take, impound or consume such wood, earth, gravel, shale, stone, water or other material; and all the foregoing provisions of this section as to injunction and bond shall be applicable to such case.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-16. Increase or Decrease in Award After Payment Into Court; Costs

When, after such payment into court as is mentioned in section thirteen of this article a subsequent report is made which is confirmed and ordered to be recorded, or the verdict of a jury is found, if the sum ascertained by such subsequent report or verdict exceed what was so paid, and the applicant fail to pay the same, judgment shall be given against it for the amount of such excess, with ten percent interest thereon from the date of filing of the petition until payment, but if what was so paid exceeds the sum ascertained by such subsequent report or verdict, the excess shall be repaid to the applicant out of the fund in court, or by the persons to whom the same shall have been paid. If the sum ascertained by such subsequent report or verdict does not exceed the sum ascertained by the former report, the party on whose motion the former report was set aside, recommitted, or other commissioners appointed, or trial by jury demanded, if he be a defendant therein, shall pay the costs occasioned by such motion, unless such former report was set aside, recommitted or other commissioners appointed on some other ground than that of insufficiency of compensation.
If the applicant has stated in his application the sum of money which he is ready to pay to the owners for any parcel of land proposed to be taken, and it appear by a report confirmed and ordered to be recorded, or by a verdict of a jury, that he is entitled to take such parcel for the purpose mentioned in his application without paying any greater compensation therefor, he shall be adjudged his costs in respect to such parcel, out of the compensation to be paid therefor to the owners.
In cases not otherwise provided for, the applicant shall pay the costs of the proceedings.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-17. Effect of Judgment Against Applicant for Excess

When judgment is rendered against the applicant, pursuant to the preceding section, for any excess ascertained by such subsequent report or verdict, with interest, the applicant shall thereafter have no right to the possession of the land until the judgment is satisfied; but from the time of such satisfaction by the payment of the money to the person entitled thereto, or into court, or from the time of the confirmation of the subsequent report or verdict, if no additional compensation be thereby ascertained, the title to that part of the land for which such compensation has been made shall be vested as provided in section twelve of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-19. Compensation of Commissioners and Jurors

Each commissioner shall receive as compensation for services in each eminent domain proceeding a reasonable amount to be fixed by an order entered of record in the proceeding, said compensation not to exceed the sum of $50 per day to be taxed as a part of the costs of the proceeding.
The jurors shall receive the same compensation fixed by law for jurors in felony cases, to be taxed as a part of the costs of the proceeding.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-20. Recordation of Certified Copy of Condemnation Order

When land or an estate or interest therein is taken or appropriated under the provisions of this chapter, the clerk of the court in which such proceeding is had shall, at the cost of the applicant, file and record with the clerk of the county court of each county wherein such land is, a certified copy of the order or orders of appropriation, and from the time of the filing thereof as aforesaid, the applicant shall be deemed a purchaser of the land or the estate or interest therein so taken or appropriated, with like effect as if the record owner, if made a party to such proceeding, had executed to such applicant a deed for the land or the estate or interest therein so taken or appropriated. The clerk shall record and index the same in the manner provided in section seven, article four, chapter fifty-one of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 2. Procedure › §54-2-21. Effective Date of New Percent Interest Rates

The percent interest rate provided for in sections twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fourteen-a, fifteen, sixteen and eighteen of this article, shall be applicable only to condemnation proceedings hereafter instituted. The rate of interest previously applicable to proceedings under the above sections shall continue to be applicable to condemnation proceedings heretofore instituted.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 54. Eminent Domain › Article 3. Implementation of Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 and the 1987 Amendments Thereto Known as Title IV of the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 › §54-3-1. Definitions

As used in this article, the term:
(1) "Federal act" means the "Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970", being Public Law 91-646, enacted by the ninety-first Congress of the United States of America, and the 1987 amendments thereto known as Title IV of the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 being Public Law 100-17 enacted by the One Hundredth Congress of the United States of America.
(2) "Acquiring agency" means the State of West Virginia or any department, agency or instrumentality thereof, or any county, municipality or other political subdivision thereof or any department, agency or instrumentality of two or more states or of two or more political subdivisions of a state or states, and any person carrying out a program or project with federal financial assistance which causes a person to be a displaced person within the intent and meaning of the federal act.
(3) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association or corporation.