Chapter 4. THE LEGISLATURE.
Article 1. Officers, Members and Employees; Appropriations; Investigations.
Revisers’ Note.—Sections 2, 10, 11, 15c, 19, 19a(l), 19a(2), 19a(3) and 19a(4), c. 12, Code 1923, are omitted from this chapter for the following reasons: Section 2 is covered in art. 1, c. 5; §§10 and 11 merely state a rule and are no longer observed (State v. Hinton, 77 W. Va., 266); §15c is unnecessary; §19 is a restatement of portions of art. 6, §24, Const.; §§19a(l), 19a(2), 19a(3) and 19a(4) are transferred to c. 61.
§1. Compensation and Mileage of Members of Legislature.—Members of the senate and house of delegates in the legislature of the State shall each receive for his services a salary of five hundred dollars a year; and in addition thereto ten cents for each mile traveled in going to and returning from the seat of government by the most direct route from his home, at each session of the legislature. Such salaries shall be payable out of the treasury on the third Wednesday in January of each year. The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of delegates shall each receive an additional compensation of two dollars per day for each day they shall act as presiding officers. No other allowance or emolument than that by this section provided shall be directly or indirectly made or paid to the members of either house, for postage, stationery, newspapers, or any other purpose whatsoever.(Code 1849, c. 14, §§12, 13, 21; Code 1860, c. 14, §§11, 12, 20; Const. 1863, art. 4, §33; Code 1868, c. 11, §8; Const. 1872, art. 6, §33; 1882, c. 87, §8; Const. 1872, as amended 1920, art. 6, §33; 1921, c. 93, §1; Code 1923, c. 11, §§8, 8a; 1929, c. 2.)
Committee’s Note.—This section is amended in conformity with Acts 1929, c. 2.
§2. Appropriations.—No money shall be appropriated by resolution of either house, or by joint resolution of the legislature; but when any money has been appropriated by law, the application of the same, in pursuance of the law, may be directed by resolution.(Code 1849, c. 15; Code 1860, c. 15; Const. 1863, art. 8, §4; Code 1868, c. 12, §9; Const. 1872, art. 6, §51; Const. 1872, art. 10, §3; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §9.)
Revisers’ Note.—The necessity for this section is doubted, but it is thought to be a declaration of law that can do no harm.
§3. Suits Against Members of the Legislature.—Any suit may be commenced and prosecuted against a member of the legislature, if his person be not taken into custody or imprisoned. But no trial shall be had or judgment rendered in any such suit, nor shall any execution or attachment be levied upon the property of such member during the sessions of the legislature or for ten days immediately before or immediately after session.(Code 1849, c. 15; Code 1860, c. 15; Const. 1863, art. 4, §§31, 32; Code 1868, c. 12, §5; Const. 1873, art. 6, §17; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §5.)
Revisers’ Note.—Instead of the one day for every twenty miles of travel exception in §5, c. 12, Code 1923, a uniform period of ten days is provided.
§4. Compelling Members to Attend.—Either a house, or a less number than a quorum thereof, when assembled at the time and place of meeting, may, by order or resolution, direct such of its members as are absent without leave to be brought before the house. The order or resolution shall be executed by the sergeant-at-arms, or any messengers deputed by him, or appointed for the purpose by the officer presiding at the meeting; and a copy of such order or resolution, attested by the presiding officer or clerk, shall be a sufficient warrant. The sergeant or messengers shall thereupon forthwith arrest the members so absent, and bring them before the meeting; and each of them, as he is brought in, shall be heard, if he wishes it, in excuse of his absence. If any member so brought in do not render such an excuse for his absence as the house, or such of its members as are present, shall deem sufficient, he may be fined not exceeding six dollars, censured, or discharged from custody, as the house, or such of its members as are present, shall order; and in either case shall pay the costs of the arrest. If the excuse be deemed sufficient, the costs of the arrest shall be certified by the presiding officer or clerk, and be paid out of the appropriation for the expenses of the legislature.(Const. 1863, art. 4, §27; Const. 1872, art. 6, §24; 1863, p. 112; Code 1868, c. 12, §6; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §6.)
§5. Authority to Summon Witnesses; Punishment for Contempt.—When the senate or house of delegates, or a committee of either house, authorized to examine witnesses, or to send for persons and papers, shall order the attendance of any witness, or the production of any paper as evidence, a summons shall be issued accordingly, signed by the presiding officer or clerk of such house, or the chairman of such committee, directed to the sheriff or other proper officer of any county, or to the sergeant-at-arms of such house, or any person deputed by him. And when served, obedience thereto may be enforced by attachment, fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the house which appointed the committee; and if the committee be authorized to sit during the recess of the legislature or the recess of the house which appointed the committee, then obedience to the summons may be enforced by such committee as aforesaid. And when a committee is appointed by each house under any joint or concurrent resolution, and directed to sit jointly, with authority to examine witnesses or send for persons and papers, the summons aforesaid may be signed by the chairman of the committee on the part of the senate or the chairman of the committee on the part of the house of delegates; and obedience thereto may be enforced as aforesaid by the house which appointed the committee which directed the summons to be issued; and if such committees be authorized to sit during the recess of the legislature, then obedience to the summons aforesaid may be enforced as aforesaid by the committee which directed the summons to be issued.(Code 1849, c. 15; Code 1860, c. 15; Code 1868, c. 12, §7; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §7.)
Revisers’ Note.—This section was held constitutional in Sullivan v. Hill, 73 W. Va. 49.
§6. Authority to Administer Oaths.—The presiding officer or clerk of either house may administer the oaths of office to any member or officer of such house, and the oath to any witness to be examined before such house or its committee, or before any joint committee. When any committee of either house, or joint committee, is authorized to examine witnesses, or to send for persons and papers, the chairman of such committee, or in his absence any member thereof, may administer the oath to any witness produced to testify before it.(Code 1849, c. 15; Code 1860, c. 15; Code 1868, c. 12, §8; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §8.)
§7. Flag Displayed During Sessions.—While either house is in session, the flag of the Union shall be kept suspended over the place of session.(Code 1849, c. 15; Code 1860, c. 15; Code 1868, c. 12, §4; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §4.)
§8. Officers and Employees.—Each house of the legislature shall, at the commencement of each regular session thereof, elect a clerk, a sergeant-at-arms and a doorkeeper. The terms of office of the clerks of the senate and house of delegates shall, unless they are sooner removed, be and continue until the next regular meeting of the legislature, and until their successors are elected and qualified. The president of the senate and speaker of the house of delegates shall, as soon as practicable after their election, appoint for their respective houses such number of committee clerks and pages as each house may by resolution direct, and may remove any person so appointed and appoint another in his stead: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent either house from removing any such committee clerks or pages.(Const. 1872, art. 6, §24; Code 1868, c. 12, §1; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §1.)
Revisers’ Note.—The reference in §1, c. 12, Code 1923, to the causes for which the presiding officer might remove appointees is omitted.
§9. Assistant Clerks; Committee Clerks to Assist.—Whenever it may be necessary, the clerk of the senate may appoint one assistant, and the clerk of the house of delegates not exceeding three assistants, and such clerks may from time to time remove any assistant from office and appoint another in his stead. Every such assistant, during his continuance in office, may discharge any of the official duties of his principal. And it shall be the duty of every committee clerk in each house, when not engaged in the actual discharge of his duties as such, to assist the clerk of either house in the discharge of any of his duties, whenever called upon by such clerk to do so.(Code 1868, c. 12, §18; 1882, c. 88, §18; Code 1923, c. 12, §18.)
§10. Powers and Duties of Officers.—The officers of each house shall respectively have such powers and perform such duties as are conferred upon or required of them by law, or by the rules or orders of their respective houses.(Code 1860, c. 15, §13; Code 1868, c. 12, §12; 1882, c. 88, §12; Code 1923, c. 12, §12.)
§11. Vacancy in Clerkships.—A vacancy in the office of clerk of the senate or clerk of the house of delegates, happening when the legislature is not in session, shall be filled by appointment by the governor, to expire at the meeting of the next session of the legislature. If any such vacancy happen when the legislature is in session, it shall be filled in the same manner as is provided for the election of such officer at the commencement of each regular session.(Code 1868, c. 12, §3; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §3.)
Revisers’ Note.—The language of §3, c. 12, Code 1923, is changed for accuracy but the substance remains as before.
§12. Custody of Journals and Documents; Copies.—The journals, papers and documents of each house shall be in the custody of its clerk, and copies thereof may be certified by him.(Code 1849, c. 15; Code 1860, c. 15; Code 1868, c. 12, §13; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §13.)
Revisers’ Note.—The provision in §13, c. 12, Code 1923, as to the evidentiary effect of certified copies of documents of the legislature is omitted as covered in §7, art. 1, c. 57.
§13. Clerk of House; Keeper of the Rolls; Duties as to Acts; Copies; Printing.—The clerk of the house of delegates shall be the keeper of the rolls, and for his duties as such he shall receive three hundred dollars in addition to his salary as clerk. After a bill or joint resolution has passed both houses, he shall cause the same to be correctly recorded, in a legible manner, in a well-bound book, to be kept for that purpose exclusively, which recording shall be equivalent to enrollment. He shall have the custody of the acts and joint resolutions of the legislature and shall make a certified copy of them for any person requiring the same. For a copy of an act or joint resolution, he may demand of the person at whose request it was made fifty cents, or, at his option, three cents for every thirty words contained therein. As soon as possible after the close of each session, he shall prepare a well arranged index to the acts and joint resolutions passed at such session, and shall furnish to the printer who has the contract for such printing the manuscript of such acts, resolutions and index and all matter directed by law to be printed therewith, properly prepared and arranged for publication, and shall superintend the printing thereof.(Code 1849, c. 15; Code 1860, c. 15; Code 1868, c. 11, §1, c. 12, §§14, 15; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 11, §1, c. 12, §§14, 15.)
Revisers’ Note.—The provision in §1, c. 11, Code 1923, as to the compensation of the clerk as keeper of the rolls is incorporated in this section. The provision in §14, c. 12, Code 1923, as to the evidentiary effect of certified copies of acts and joint resolutions is omitted because covered in §7, art. 1, c. 57.
§14. Copies of Enrolled Bills for Courts; Effect.—The clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of delegates, acting jointly, shall mail, to the judges of the supreme court of appeals and judges of the circuit, common pleas, intermediate and criminal courts of this State, copies of enrolled bills of a general nature, taking effect from their passage; and enrolled copies of municipal charters and acts of a local nature shall be furnished only to courts of the local jurisdiction. Copies of enrolled bills furnished in accordance with this section shall bear the stamp of the clerks of the two houses, showing the date that each act becomes effective, and the enrolled bills so furnished and attested shall be regarded by the courts of this State as having the same force and effect as any and all other laws.(1919, c. 99, §§1, 2; Code 1923, c. 12, §§15a, 15b.)
Revisers’ Note.—This section is a composite of §§15a and 15b, c. 12, Code 1923.
§15. Fees of Clerks for Copying or Recording.—For any copying or recording (other than that mentioned in section twelve of this article and such as he is required to do for the legislature, or either house, or a committee thereof, in the discharge of his official duty) the clerk of either house may demand and receive of and from the person, at whose request it is done, a fee at the rate of ten cents per hundred words, or fifty cents in all, at his option.(Code 1868, c. 12, §17; 1882, c. 88, §17; Code 1923, c. 12, §17.)
§16. Index to Journal and Printing Same.—The clerk of the senate and house of delegates shall each, at the end of every session of the legislature, prepare indexes to their respective journals, and cause them to be printed and bound therewith. As a compensation therefor, the per diem of said clerks shall be extended ten days after the adjournment of the legislature.(1866, c. 99; Code 1868, c. 12, §16; 1882, c. 88; Code 1923, c. 12, §16.)