West Virginia Code 5-14-3 – Continuation of commission; membership
(a) The West Virginia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is continued within the Department of Health and Human Resources consisting of 17 persons, eight of whom shall serve ex officio. The remaining members are appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The commission shall meet no less than four times annually. All meetings and activities held by the commission shall be attended by at least two qualified interpreters who shall be hired at the commission’s expense or provided free of charge by agencies, organizations or individuals willing to volunteer qualified interpreters.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 5-14-3
- Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
- Deaf: means severe to profound impairment of the sense of hearing whereby the understanding of speech is unattainable through the ear alone with or without amplification, and visual communication is used as the primary mode of communication. See West Virginia Code 5-14-2
- Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
- Hard of hearing: means significant impairment to the sense of hearing, but not to the extent that the person must rely primarily on visual communication. See West Virginia Code 5-14-2
- 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
(b) The members are: The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, or his or her designee; the Commissioner of the Division of Labor, or his or her designee; the Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health, or his or her designee; the State Superintendent of Schools, or his or her designee; the Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Services, or his or her designee; the Commissioner of the Division of Human Services, or his or her designee; the Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Education of Exceptional Children, or his or her designee; and the Superintendent of the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, or his or her designee, all of whom serve ex officio with full voting privileges.
(c) The Governor shall appoint nine persons, at least five of whom are deaf or hard of hearing, one of whom is the parent of a deaf child, one of whom is a certified teacher of the deaf or hard of hearing, one audiologist and one otolaryngologist. Of the five deaf people, at least three shall be selected from a list of five people recommended by the Board of the West Virginia Association of the Deaf.