Chapter 14, Chapter 14

The purpose of this article is to provide for a timely and efficient mechanism for the offset of delinquent debt owed the state from payments made by the state.

The Auditor, commissioner of finance and administration and any other officer or body authorized by law shall cause appropriate proceedings, in the manner provided for in this article, to be instituted and prosecuted to enforce payment of any debt or liability due the state.

The sale shall be upon six months' credit; and, if the land be not purchased for the state, the officer shall take the note of the purchaser with sureties for the payment of the purchase money to the state. Every such note shall mention on what occasion the same was taken and sha…

So soon as the purchaser shall pay the purchase money, a deed shall be executed at his costs, reciting the execution, the sale and the price, and conveying the land to him The grantor in such deed may either be the sheriff himself or the deputy or other person who acted in making…

When the officer and his deputy who acted in making the sale shall both have died or removed out of the state before making such deed, or fail or refuse to act, or if the term of the officer within whose term such sale was made shall have expired, the deed may be executed by any …

When any note taken under section ten of this article shall become due and not be paid, the officer shall sell the real estate for which such note was given, upon such notice as is provided in section eight of this article, and according to the provisions of section nine thereof,…

Against the personal representatives of such of the obligors as may have died before judgment was entered under the preceding section, judgment may be obtained by action or motion.

When return is made on any execution issued under the provisions of this article, that personal property or real estate remains unsold for want of bidders, or to that effect, the provisions of section eighteen, article four, chapter thirty- eight of this code shall be applicable.

When land levied on under execution on behalf of the state will not sell for the amount thereof, the Auditor, or such agent as is mentioned in section nineteen of this article, may purchase such land for the state.

In any case in which an officer having an execution issued under the provisions of this article shall decline levying it because of any previous conveyance, execution or encumbrance, a return shall be made setting forth the nature of such conveyance, execution or encumbrance, in …

The commissioner of finance and administration, Auditor or other officer or official body having authority to collect the same may, with the advice of the Attorney General, adjust and settle upon just and equitable principles without regard to strict legal rules any account or cl…

Any account, claim or debt that an agency of this state is not able to collect within three months after trying with due diligence to do so may be referred to the commissioner of finance and administration for consignment by the commissioner to a responsible licensed and bonded d…

The commissioner of finance and administration shall promulgate rules and regulations for the determination and regulation of responsible licensed and bonded debt collection agencies and other responsible agents for collection. The commissioner shall determine the collection fees…

The State Tax Commissioner shall establish and maintain a list of debt collection agencies bonded and licensed with the state. When choosing collection agencies under the provisions of sections eighteen-a and eighteen-b of this article, the commissioner of finance and administrat…

The Auditor, subject to the approval of the commissioner of finance and administration, may appoint agents to superintend the collection of those debts to or claims of the state he is by law responsible for. The Auditor may authorize them to secure payments thereof by installment…

For purposes of this article, the term: “Auditor” means the State Auditor; “Debt” means the obligations, other than income tax obligations or local government obligations, owed to the state which a spending unit has not been able to collect within a minimum of one hundred eighty …

When the proceeding is at law, it may be by motion on twenty days' notice, or by action; and whether at law or in chancery, it may be brought in any court which would have jurisdiction thereof if the proceeding were brought by an individual, or in the circuit court of the county …

The clerks of the county courts shall transmit to the Auditor a list of all lands in their respective counties obtained by the state, under the provisions of §14-1-16 of this code, and set forth in such list all the information which they can obtain in relation to the lands menti…

(a) The Auditor shall, in a book kept for the purpose, register all lands in the lists described in §14-1-20 of this code, describing when, how, and of whom, they were obtained, their situation, quantity and the title thereto, together with the price paid therefor by the state. (…

The Auditor may sell, or appoint an agent to sell, any of such lands on such terms as the Auditor may think best, taking the bond of such agent, with good security, if any money is to come into his hands.

In the book kept under the provisions of section twenty-one of this article, the Auditor shall enter the time when any of the lands are disposed of, the price and terms of sale, the names of the agents and purchasers, and the amount paid into the treasury on account of the sale.

For the service rendered to the Auditor by any agent under the pertinent sections of this article, the Auditor shall recommend such compensation as may seem to him reasonable, not exceeding in any case fifty percent of the money actually paid into the treasury. The Governor shall…

Any agent selling land under the provisions of section twenty-two of this article shall, when directed, execute a deed, with the written direction of the Auditor thereto annexed conveying to the purchaser all the interest which the state may have in such land; and, where such sal…

The commissioner of finance and administration and the Auditor shall biennially report to the Legislature their proceedings under this article, setting forth particularly all the agents appointed by them, and the agents' compensation, all debts collected and property purchased by…

The Auditor may, with the advice and consent of the Attorney General, whenever any claim or account of any kind, against a sheriff or other officer has been due for more than seven years, and the same is for any reason difficult or expensive to collect, certify a transcript of su…

The sheriff, after having received a transcript of the account which is to be sold, shall give notice by publication as a Class III-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publica…

The sheriff to whom such claim or account is certified under the provisions of this article shall on the first day of the term of the circuit court of his county succeeding the publication of such notice, make sale of such claim or account to the highest bidder, and, in case the …

The action or motion at law may be against any person indebted or liable in any way whatever to the state, his sureties and his and their personal representatives, or any one or more of them. But a judgment against a personal representative shall only bind him to the extent to wh…

(a) The Auditor may establish a “Debt Resolution Services Division” to be administered by the employees of his or her office, which may identify and offset state payments due to vendors, contractors, or taxpayers that owe delinquent debts to the state. (b) The division may also a…

Within ten days after making such sale, the sheriff shall return and file in the clerk's office of the circuit court of his county a report showing the name of the officer against whom the claim is, the date of sale, the date and character of the claim sold, the name of the purch…

In cases where no exceptions are filed to the report, the court shall confirm the sale, and within twenty days after such confirmation the clerk of the court shall certify to the Auditor a copy of such report and the order of confirmation.

Within thirty days after the confirmation of said report, the sheriff shall transmit to the Auditor a certificate of deposit for the amount received by him in cash, and also any notes which may have been executed for the balance of purchase money, and in case of the failure of pe…

The purchaser of any accounts or claims so sold under the provisions of this article shall have the same right to recover that the state now has, and shall be substituted to all the rights of the state concerning the same. But in case there be any error in any account or claim so…

The sheriff, for performing the duties required of him by this article, shall be allowed five per cent on the first $100 and two per cent on the residue, which commission shall be deducted from the purchase money and the balance credited on the debt due the state. The costs of pu…

In any proceeding had under the provisions of this article against sheriffs or collectors and their sureties, or any, or either of them, for money due the state, any transfer, assignment or alienation of property, real or personal, or any judgment or decree obtained against or su…

Whenever it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Auditor that the sureties of a defaulting assessor or sheriff will be compelled to pay the indebtedness of such defaulting officer, he may, with the advice and consent of the Attorney General, settle with such sureties by receiv…

(a) The auditor is authorized to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury to participate in the Treasury Offset Program pursuant to 31 U.S.C. §3716 for the collection of any debts owed to the state or to state agencies from federal payments to vendors, contracto…

Courts wherein cases are pending to which the state is a party may hear them before other cases and expedite the proceedings therein by such rules as to them may seem proper.

In a writ of fieri facias issuing out of any court of record upon a judgment or decree against any person indebted or liable to the state, or against any surety of his after the words "we command you that of the" the clerk shall insert the words "goods, chattels and real estate,"…

An execution in favor of the state, from any court, may be directed to the sheriff of any county.

Every writ of fieri facias issued according to the fifth section of this article shall be levied first on the goods and chattels. If the officer having such writ can find no goods and chattels liable thereto, or not a sufficiency thereof, then he shall levy it on the real estate.

When a levy is so made upon real estate, the officer making it shall publish notice thereof and of the time and place of sale as a Class III-O legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for suc…

If the amount of the execution and all the costs and expenses be not sooner paid, such officer shall proceed on the day mentioned in the notice to sell at public auction the interest of the party against whom the execution issued, in the real estate, or so much thereof as the off…

The purpose of this article is to provide a simple and impartial method for the consideration of claims against the state that because of the provisions of section thirty-five, article VI of the Constitution of the State, and of statutory restrictions, inhibitions or limitations,…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "West Virginia Crime Profits Act".

The act heretofore created by this article and known and cited as the "West Virginia Crime Reparation Act of 1981" shall henceforth be known and cited as the "West Virginia Crime Victims Compensation Act." Any and all funds existing under the West Virginia crime reparation act of…

A person who commits a crime in this state submits to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state for a proceeding brought under this article. A person, firm, corporation, partnership, association or other legal entity which knowingly contracts for, pays or agrees to pay any pro…

Each commissioner appointed to the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission shall be an attorney at law, licensed to practice in this state, and shall have been so licensed to practice law for a period of not less than ten years prior to his or her appointment as commissioner.…

(a) A claim for an award of compensation shall be commenced by filing an application for an award of compensation with the clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission. The application shall be in a form prescribed by the clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims …

Unless expressly exempted in the code, the Attorney General shall represent the interests of the State in all claims coming before the commission.