2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 7. County Commissions and Officers › Article 1. County Commissions Generally › §7-1-5. Duties of County Commissioners; Payment for Services Other Than Services in Court

It shall be the duty of the county commissioners of each county to visit each quarter and inspect institutions within their county for housing and caring for the poor, to inspect the jails, to arrange for the feeding and care of the prisoners therein, to investigate the conditions of the poor within their county, not housed within such institutions; to visit detention homes for children within their counties, if any; to visit and inspect bridges and bridge approaches under their control, to provide for and have general supervision over the repair and maintenance of the county courthouse, jails, houses for the poor and other county property, so as to prevent the undue deterioration thereof; to supervise and control the maintenance and operation of airport or airports owned or operated by the county commission; to supervise and control the purchase, erection and maintenance of airport facilities; to supervise and control the purchase of furniture, fixtures and equipment and janitors' and other supplies for their county; to attend the annual meetings of county assessors and such district meetings as may be called by the State Tax Commissioner on matters pertaining to the work of the county assessors and the county commission as boards of review and equalization; to review and equalize the assessments made by the assessors; to inspect and review the lists of property, both real and personal, made up by the assessor and his deputies for taxable purposes, and to point out to the assessor any property, real and personal, which the said assessors of their respective counties may have overlooked or omitted to place on said tax lists; to call to the attention of the assessor all real estate or personal property belonging to churches, lodges, schools or other charitable institutions which may have been overlooked or omitted by the assessor or his deputies in making up his lists of property for entry on the land and personal property books; to supervise the general management of the fiscal affairs and business of each county; and as a further part of their duties they shall be empowered to purchase, lease, rent, control, supervise, inspect, maintain and erect public parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities, to purchase, lease or rent equipment therefor and to employ qualified recreational directors and personnel; to construct new Four-H camps on county property; to operate stone quarries and sand deposits on county-owned or leased property; to construct buildings for or aid in constructing or equipping buildings for emergency services on sites approved by the Office of Emergency Services; to operate dog pounds for county-municipalities; to purchase, lease, rent, control, supervise, inspect, maintain and erect public markets and to purchase, rent or lease equipment therefor and to employ qualified personnel to operate such public markets; and as a further part of their duties they shall be empowered to purchase, lease, rent, control, supervise, inspect, maintain and erect county mental health clinics and engage in any program designated for the betterment of the mental and physical well-being of the residents of their county and to cooperate with any public or private agency for these purposes; to establish and participate in regional planning and development councils; to establish and participate in county commissions on intergovernmental relations as required by section three-q of this article; to establish and participate in county commissions on crime, delinquency and corrections as required by section three-r of this article; to conduct a survey of all orphaned roads within the county, which roads shall include roads or highways, not situated within a municipality, which are open to the public and which serve two or more persons, but shall exclude roads comprising or included within the state road system as defined by section two, article four, chapter seventeen of this code or comprising or included within any county road or highway system and which shall also exclude any road brought into the state road system for purposes of maintenance only by the commissioner of highways pursuant to statutory or regulatory authority; to prepare an inventory of all such orphaned roads within the county, which inventory shall be made available to any agency of the state or federal government upon request, and be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk.
Compensation shall be allowed and paid out of the county treasury, in the same manner as salaries are paid, to each county commissioner of each county (except as otherwise provided by law for the county of Ohio) for services performed for such county concerning the visiting of the poor, inspection of jails, bridges and bridge approaches and for visiting detention homes for children and for providing for and supervising the repair and maintenance of the county courthouse, jails, houses for the poor and other county property; for supervising and controlling the maintenance and operation of airport or airports owned or operated by the county commission and supervising and controlling the purchase, erection and maintenance of airport facilities; for supervising and controlling the purchase of furniture, fixtures and equipment and janitors' and other supplies for their county; for attending the annual meeting of assessors and such district meetings as may be called by the State Tax Commissioner on matters pertaining to the work of assessors and county commissions as boards of review and equalization; for reviewing and equalizing the assessments made by the assessors; for inspecting and reviewing the lists of property, both real and personal, made up by the assessor and his deputies for taxable purposes and for pointing out to the assessor any property, real and personal, which the said assessors of their respective counties may have overlooked or omitted to place on said tax lists; for calling to the attention of the assessor all real estate or personal property belonging to churches, lodges, schools or other charitable institutions which may have been overlooked or omitted by the assessor or his deputies in making up their lists of property for entry on the land and personal property books; for purchasing, leasing, renting, controlling, supervising, inspecting, maintaining and erecting public parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities and the purchasing, leasing or renting the equipment therefor and employing qualified recreational directors and personnel therefor; for constructing new Four-H camps on county property; operating stone quarries and sand deposits on county-owned or leased property, constructing buildings for or aiding in construction or equipping buildings for emergency services on sites approved by the Office of Emergency Services; operating dog pounds for county-municipalities; to purchase, lease, rent, control, supervise, inspect, maintain and erect public markets, and to purchase, rent or lease equipment therefor and to employ qualified personnel to operate such public markets; for constructing fallout shelters and aiding individuals to construct fallout shelters through furnishing available information; for purchasing, leasing, renting, controlling, supervising, inspecting, maintaining or erecting county mental health clinics or engaging in programs for the betterment of the mental or physical well-being of the residents of their county; for conducting a survey of all abandoned and dilapidated buildings or structures within the county and to prepare an inventory thereof, which inventory shall be made available to any agency of state or federal government or to local governmental agencies upon request; for establishing and participating in regional planning and development councils; to conduct a survey of all orphaned roads within the county, which roads shall include roads or highways, not situated within a municipality, which are open to the public and which serve two or more persons, but shall exclude roads comprising or included within the state road system as defined by section two, article four, chapter seventeen of this code or comprising or included within any county road or highway system and which shall also exclude any road brought into the state road system for purposes of maintenance only by the commissioner of highways pursuant to statutory or regulatory authority; to prepare an inventory of all such orphaned roads within the county, which inventory shall be made available to any agency of the state or federal government upon request, and be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk; for establishing and participating in county commissions on intergovernmental relations as required by section three-q of this article; for establishing and participating in county commissions on crime, delinquency and correction as required by section three-r of this article and for supervising the general management of the fiscal affairs and business of each county, within their counties, and other business by such commissioners.