West Virginia Code 8-35-1 – Forfeiture of charter or certificate of incorporation; notice; dissolution of municipality
Any municipality heretofore incorporated or which shall hereafter be incorporated and which has no substantial indebtedness, and which shall fail for one year to exercise its corporate powers and privileges, or which has not twenty qualified voters, or in which there were not twenty legal votes cast at its last election, or the population of which shall be reduced below one hundred persons and so remain for six consecutive months, shall in either event have its charter or certificate of incorporation and all rights, powers and privileges so conferred upon such municipality forfeited.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 8-35-1
- Charter: shall mean , except where specific reference is made to a particular type of charter, either a special legislative charter (whether or not amended under the provisions of former §. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- County court: includes any existing tribunal created in lieu of a county commission. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- 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.
- Mayor: shall mean the individual called mayor unless as to a particular municipality a commissioner (in a commission form of government) or the city manager (in a manager form of government) is designated or constituted by charter provision as the principal or chief executive officer or chief administrator thereof, in which event the term "mayor" shall mean as to such municipality such commissioner or city manager unless as to any particular power, authority, duty or function specified in this chapter to be exercised, discharged or fulfilled by the mayor it is provided by charter provision or ordinance that such particular power, authority, duty, or function shall be exercised, discharged, or fulfilled by the individual called mayor and not by a commissioner or city manager, in which event such particular power, authority, duty, or function shall in fact be exercised, discharged, or fulfilled in and for such municipality by the individual called mayor: Provided, That in the exercise and discharge of the ex officio justice of the peace, conservator of the peace, and mayor's court functions specified in this chapter, the term "mayor" shall always mean the individual called mayor. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
- Recorder: shall mean the recorder, clerk, or other municipal officer, by whatever name called, charged with the responsibility of keeping the journal of the proceedings of the governing body of the municipality and other municipal records. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
- 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
The county court of the county wherein any such municipality or the major portion of the territory thereof is located shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters relating to the forfeiture of such charter or certificate of incorporation, upon the petition of one or more of its inhabitants, and to dissolve such municipal corporation. Ten days' notice of the filing of such petition with the clerk of the county court of such county, served upon the mayor and recorder or on the last mayor or recorder thereof, shall be sufficient notice upon which such county court shall so act, and upon the proper proof of the allegations of such petition, any such charter or certificate of incorporation shall be declared forfeited and the municipal corporation dissolved and all debts of such municipality shall be ordered paid and the forfeiture and dissolution shall not become effective until such debts have been paid. Upon such forfeiture and dissolution all interest of such municipality in corporate funds, if any, in excess of the amounts required to pay corporate debts shall be and the same is hereby transferred to and vested in the State of West Virginia to be controlled by the State Auditor. If the territory so incorporated, or a major part thereof, either in area or in population, shall, however, within one year next after such declaration of forfeiture and dissolution by the county court be reincorporated under this chapter, then the Auditor of the State of West Virginia shall convey unto such new municipality all of the rights of the State of West Virginia in and to the corporate property, moneys, claims, demands and taxes collected or uncollected, of the former municipal corporation so dissolved.