West Virginia Code 6A-1-5 – Emergency interim successors for state officers
All state officers, subject to such regulations as the Governor may issue, shall, upon approval of this article, in addition to any deputy authorized pursuant to law to exercise all of the powers and discharge the duties of the office, designate by title emergency interim successors and specify their order of succession. The officer shall review and revise, as necessary, designations made pursuant to this article to insure their current status. The officer will designate a sufficient number of such emergency interim successors so that there will be not less than three nor more than seven such deputies or emergency interim successors or any combination thereof at any time. In the event of an attack, and in the event that any state officer or his deputy, if any, is unavailable following such an attack, the said powers of his office shall be exercised and said duties of his office shall be discharged by his designated emergency interim successors in the order specified. Such emergency interim successors shall exercise said powers and discharge said duties only until such time as the Governor under the Constitution or authority other than this article or other official authorized under the Constitution or this article to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the office of Governor may, where a vacancy exists, appoint a successor to fill the vacancy or until a successor is otherwise appointed, or elected, and qualified as provided by law; or an officer or his deputy or a preceding named emergency interim successor becomes available to exercise or resume the exercise of the powers and discharge the duties of his office.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 6A-1-5
- Attack: means any attack or series of attacks by an enemy of the United States causing, or which may cause, substantial damages or injury to civilian property or persons in the United States in any manner by sabotage or by the use of bombs, missiles, shellfire, or atomic, radiological, chemical, bacteriological, or biological means or other weapons or processes. See West Virginia Code 6A-1-3
- Emergency interim successor: means a person designated pursuant to this article, in the event the officer is unavailable, to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of an office until a successor is appointed or elected and qualified as may be provided by the Constitution, statutes, charters and ordinances or until the lawful incumbent is able to resume the exercise of the powers and discharge the duties of the office. See West Virginia Code 6A-1-3
- Office: includes all state and local offices, the powers and duties of which are defined by the Constitution, statutes, charters, and ordinances, except the office of Governor, and except those in the Legislature and the judiciary. See West Virginia Code 6A-1-3
- 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
- Unavailable: means either that a vacancy in office exists and there is no deputy authorized to exercise all of the powers and discharge the duties of the office, or that the lawful incumbent of the office, including any deputy exercising the powers and discharging the duties of an office because of a vacancy and his duly authorized deputy, are absent or unable to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the office. See West Virginia Code 6A-1-3