West Virginia Code 4-10-5 – Powers and duties of the committee and joint standing committee
(a) To carry out the duties set forth in this article, the committee or the joint standing committee, any authorized employee of the committee, the joint standing committee, the Legislative Auditor or any employee of the division working at the direction of the committee or the joint standing committee, shall have access, including copying, to all records of every state agency in West Virginia.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 4-10-5
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Committee: means the Joint Committee on Government Operations. See West Virginia Code 4-10-3
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Division: means the Performance Evaluation and Research Division, the Post Audit Division, or any division of the Legislative Auditor&rsquo. See West Virginia Code 4-10-3
- Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
- Joint standing committee: means the joint standing committee on Government Organization. See West Virginia Code 4-10-3
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Petit jury: A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute. Federal criminal juries consist of 12 persons. Federal civil juries consist of six persons.
- Regulatory Board: means a board that regulates professions and occupations, created under the provisions of chapter thirty of this code. See West Virginia Code 4-10-3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- state agency: means a state governmental entity, including any bureau, department, division, commission, agency, committee, office, board, authority, subdivision, program, council, advisory body, cabinet, panel, system, task force, fund, compact, institution, survey, position, coalition or other entity in the State of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 4-10-3
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(b) When furnishing information, agencies shall provide the information in the format in which it is requested, if the request is specific as to a preferred format.
(c) The committee or the joint standing committee may hold public hearings in furtherance of the purposes of this article, at such times and places within the state as desired. A member of the committee or the joint standing committee may administer oaths to persons testifying at such hearings or meetings.
(d) The committee or the joint standing committee may issue a subpoena, with the signature of either cochair of the committee or the joint standing committee and served in the manner provided by law, to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses and their examination under oath and the production of all books, papers, documents and records necessary or convenient to be examined and used by the committee or joint standing committee in the performance of its duties.
(e) If any witness subpoenaed to appear at any hearing or meeting refuses or fails to appear or to answer questions put to him or her, or refuses or fails to produce books, papers, documents or records within his or her control when the same are demanded, the committee or the joint standing committee, in its discretion, may enforce obedience to its subpoena by attachment, fine or imprisonment, as provided in article one of this chapter, or may report the facts to the circuit court of Kanawha County or any other court of competent jurisdiction and the court shall compel obedience to the subpoena as though it had been issued by the court.
(f) Witnesses subpoenaed to attend hearings or meetings pursuant to the provisions of this article, except officers or employees of the state, shall be allowed the same mileage and per diem as is allowed witnesses before any petit jury.
(g) The committee or the joint standing committee, subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, may employ such persons as it considers necessary to carry out the duties and responsibilities under this article and may contract for outside expertise in conducting reviews.
(h) The committee or the joint standing committee may collect, and the agency or regulatory board shall promptly pay, the costs associated with conducting the reviews performed under this article, upon presentation of a statement for the costs incurred. All money received by the committee or the joint standing committee from this source shall be expended only for the purpose of covering the costs associated with such services, unless otherwise directed by the Legislature.