SB 522 — Relating to evidentiary hearings on county commission-issued citations for unsafe or unsanitary structures

CS for SB 522 WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION IntroducedCommittee Substitute for Senate Bill 522 By Senators Woelfel and Plymale [Introduced[Originating Januaryin 23,the 2024;Committee on Government Organization ;

referredreported January 31, 2024] CS for SB 522 A BILL to amend and reenact §7-1-3ff of the CommitteeCode of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the procedure for evidentiary hearings on Governmentcitations Organization;issued by county commissions to regulate unsafe or unsanitary structures.

and then to the Committee on the Judiciary] Intr SB 2024R3117 A BILL to amend and reenact §7-1-3ff of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the procedure for citations issued by the county litter control officer.

(a) Plenary power and authority are hereby conferred upon every county commission to adopt ordinances regulating the repair, alteration, or improvement, or the vacating and closingclosing, or removal or demolition, or any combination thereof, of any dwellings or other buildings, except for buildings used for farm purposes on land actually being used for farming, unfit for human habitation due to dilapidation, defects increasing the hazard of fire, accidents, or other calamities, lack of ventilation, lightlight, or sanitary facilities, or any other conditions prevailing in any dwelling or building, whether used for human habitation or not, which would cause the dwellings or other buildings to be unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous, or detrimental to the public safety or welfare, whether the result of natural or manmade force or effect.

(b) Plenary power and authority are hereby conferred upon every county commission to adopt ordinances regulating the removal and cleanup of any accumulation of refuse or debris, overgrown vegetation or toxic spillagespillage, or toxic seepage located on private lands which is determined to be unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous, or detrimental to the public safety or welfare, whether the result of natural or manmade force or effect.

(c) The county commission, in formally adopting ordinances, shall designate an enforcement agency which shall consist of the county engineer (or other technically qualified 1 CS for SB 522 county employee or consulting engineer), county health officer or his or her designee, a fire chief Intr SB 2024R3117 from a county fire company, the county litter control officer, if the commission chooses to hire one, and two members-at-large selected by the county commission to serve two-year terms.

(e) Any ordinance adopted pursuant to the provisions of this section shall provide fair and equitable rules of procedure and any other standards considered necessary to guide the enforcement agency, or its agents, in the investigation of dwelling or building conditions, accumulation of refuse or debris, overgrown vegetation, or toxic spillage or toxic seepageseepage, and shall provide for fair and equitable rules of procedure for instituting and conducting hearings in the matters before the county commission.

Complaints shall be initiated by citation issued by the county litter control officer or petition of the county engineer (or other technically qualified county employee or consulting 2 CS for SB 522 engineer) on behalf of and at the direction of the enforcement agency, but only after that agency Intr SB 2024R3117 has investigated and determined that any dwelling, building, accumulation of refuse or debris, overgrown vegetation, or toxic spillage or toxic seepage is unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous, or detrimental to the public safety or welfare and should be repaired, altered, improved, vacated, removed, closed, cleaned, or demolished.

or any other conditions prevailing in the dwelling or building, whether used for human habitation or not and whether the result of natural or manmade force or effect, which would cause the dwelling or other building to be 3 CS for SB 522 unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous, or detrimental to the public safety or welfare;

or whether there is an Intr SB 2024R3117 accumulation of refuse or debris, overgrown vegetation, toxic spillage or toxic seepage on private lands which is determined to be unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous, or detrimental to the public safety or welfare, whether the result of natural or manmade force or effect.

(8) Appeals from the county commission magistrate court to the circuit court shall be in accordance with the provisions of §58-3-1 §50-5-12 et seq.

§50-5-12 of this code.

(h) A civil proceeding may be brought in circuit court by the county commission against the owner or owners of the private land or other responsible party that is the subject matter of the order of the county commissioncommission, or other responsible party, to subject the private land in question:

(3) to order and decree that the contractor may enter upon the private land in question at any and all times necessary to make ordered repairs, alterations, or improvements, or ordered 4 CS for SB 522 demolition, removal, or clean up;

Intr SB 2024R3117 (i) County commissions may receive and accept grants, subsidies, donations, and services in kind consistent with the objectives of this section.

NOTE:

The purpose of this bill is to change the procedure for citations issued by the county litter control officer.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.