West Virginia Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in West Virginia, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Can a West Virginia county commission give out gift cards to residents who fill out a public survey?
Yes. The opinion concludes the Hampshire County Commission can lawfully spend public funds on gift cards to incentivize residents to complete surveys on the MARL transmission line, substance abuse tre…
Can West Virginia's School Building Authority give construction grants to a charter school that doesn't own its building?
Yes. West Virginia Code § 18-9D-15(o) has no ownership requirement, so the School Building Authority can fund renovation, remodeling, or construction at a charter school's leased facility. If the scho…
Can a West Virginia county commission obtain financial records from volunteer fire departments, and are those departments subject to FOIA?
A county commission may ask volunteer fire departments to provide financial records voluntarily, but it may not present the request as mandatory, condition levy distributions, or threaten adverse acti…
What can a West Virginia county commission lawfully fund: agricultural scholarships, scholarships for firefighters and EMS personnel, and gift cards as survey-participation incentives?
Mixed. A county commission may not fund an agricultural scholarship; that authority belongs to the Commissioner of Agriculture, not counties. It may fund a scholarship for volunteer firefighters and E…
Does West Virginia's small-county finance statute really require the County Commission president and county clerk to hand-sign every check or pay order, even though signature stamps and e-signatures are now standard in business and government?
Yes, in counties with populations under 50,000. West Virginia Code § 7-5-4(a) requires the president of the county commission and the county clerk (or alternative signatories under subsection (b)) to …
After a Pennsylvania ATV crash where a closer West Virginia EMS unit could have helped but couldn't because the two counties weren't bordering, can Morgan County (WV) sign a mutual-aid EMS agreement with Fulton County, Pennsylvania, even though they're separated by Maryland?
No, neither the Morgan County Commission nor the local EMS provider can sign that agreement. The relevant West Virginia statutes (Sections 7-1-3i, 15-5-9, and 16-4C-20) all require the out-of-state co…
If a West Virginia local police department uses an unmarked vehicle without tinted windows to run radar and pull people over for speeding, does the law banning unmarked-vehicle traffic stops apply?
No. West Virginia Code § 17C-15-36a only bars routine traffic stops by unmarked law-enforcement vehicles that are exempt from the window-tint rules, meaning vehicles with tinted windows that are prima…
Can a West Virginia county use its zoning ordinance to keep a commercial slaughterhouse out of a rural conservation district when state law protects 'agricultural operations' from county zoning?
No. A slaughterhouse is an 'agricultural operation' under W. Va. Code § 19-19-2 because it produces food from animals through husbandry, packing, and shipping. State law (§ 8A-7-10(e)) bars counties f…
Can a West Virginia county commission negotiating a Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes deal with a solar developer also require the developer to chip into a community development fund the county controls, and should those terms go inside the PILOT agreement itself?
Yes, a county commission can require contributions to a community development fund and has authority to set one up, but the contribution provisions should not be in the PILOT agreement itself. PILOT a…
Can a West Virginia sheriff demand sales records from local businesses to figure out how much they owe in hotel occupancy tax and EMS fees, and can the sheriff use a subpoena to get them?
The sheriff can ask businesses directly for sales records as part of his ex officio county treasurer duty to collect 'moneys due' under W. Va. Code § 7-5-1. The implied authority follows from the expr…
Can a sitting member of the West Virginia Legislature also work for a West Virginia executive-branch agency, either as an employee or as a contractor?
An employee, no. The West Virginia Constitution at art. VI, § 13 flatly bars sitting legislators from holding 'employment under this state.' A contractor relationship is more nuanced. The AG could not…
Can a West Virginia county commission make its volunteer fire departments submit to a financial audit, and withhold their share of levy funds if they refuse?
No on both counts. The AG concluded the Mineral County Commission has no express or implied authority under W. Va. Code § 7-1-3d to audit volunteer fire departments, because the Legislature gave that …
After Senate Bill 941 made the West Virginia DEP the sole authority over conservation-district dams, what happens to existing federal Operation and Maintenance agreements, future federal contracts, and the districts' liability if dam work fails?
Existing O&M agreements with the federal NRCS stay in effect, but conservation districts must get DEP approval before doing alteration, improvement, or agreement work on a covered dam. Future federal …
When a prosecutor needs probation supervision records (like a failed drug screen) to prove a probation revocation, does West Virginia Trial Court Rule 44.01 require the probation officer to get a written court order before turning the records over?
No. Trial Court Rule 44.01 covers third-party requests for confidential probation records, not discovery owed to counsel in an active revocation proceeding. Probation officers must turn over supervisi…
Is PrizePicks' single-player daily fantasy sports game illegal under West Virginia's sports wagering law, or does the statute's exclusion for 'Daily Fantasy Sports' protect it?
Maybe, and the AG could not give a definitive answer. The single-player game does meet West Virginia's statutory definition of 'sports wagering' because it accepts wagers on individual athletes' perfo…
After Senate Bill 941 (2025), do West Virginia local conservation districts still have any oversight role over dams they own or sponsor, or is that authority now exclusively the Department of Environmental Protection's?
The Department of Environmental Protection has sole authority. The 2025 amendment to West Virginia Code § 19-21A-8(a) says any 'alteration, improvement, or agreement' related to a dam owned or sponsor…
Can a West Virginia county commission use eminent domain to take private land bordering a county-owned gun club to address bullets that have spread onto the neighbor's property?
Yes, likely. The AG concluded that taking the strips of land where bullets had landed serves a public use under W. Va. Code § 54-1-2 and W. Va. Const. art. III, § 9, because it advances public safety,…
Does a West Virginia county courthouse have to close on Juneteenth if the governor doesn't recognize it as a state holiday, and do deputy sheriffs get overtime that day?
Yes, the courthouse and its annexes must close because Juneteenth is a federal holiday under 5 U.S.C. § 6103(a) and West Virginia Code § 7-3-2 forbids county commissions from keeping courthouses open …
Does sponsoring a federally-funded dike project make a West Virginia county commission the owner of the dike, and how long does the commission's duty to maintain the dike last?
No, sponsorship does not make the County Commission the owner. Federal regulations distinguish between project sponsors and landowners (landusers); the City of Parsons holds title to the dike. The 198…
If a West Virginia deputy sheriff resigns to run for sheriff, wins, then loses reelection, can he automatically return to his old deputy job?
No. Taking office as sheriff ends the deputy appointment, so civil-service protections (which only cover current deputies) no longer apply. There is a statutory reinstatement window of two years from …
Can a combined local board of health (Wetzel-Tyler) buy land and build a new health-department facility, or does the county commission have to own the property?
The local board of health may itself acquire and hold real property and construct a new facility, so a county commission does not have to own it. If the Wetzel and Tyler County Commissions choose to b…
Can a West Virginia county pay EMS salary-supplementation funds to part-time and temporary EMTs, and to EMTs who already get a supplement from a different county?
Yes to both. The Emergency Medical Services Salary Enhancement Fund (W. Va. Code § 16-4C-25) and its 2024 legislative rules apply to any certified EMT or paramedic who answers at least ten 911 calls i…
Can a West Virginia county commission buy a building it currently leases for its 911 center, and then lease part of the building to a private for-profit business?
Yes to the purchase, no to the for-profit lease. County commissions have broad express and implied authority to buy real estate for public purposes, including running a 911 center. But West Virginia l…
Can a West Virginia county without a zoning ordinance use a 'land development ordinance' to block solar and wind farms from being built?
No on the blocking, yes on regulating how they get built. West Virginia law does not recognize a separate 'land development ordinance' apart from the unified 'subdivision and land development ordinanc…
Can a West Virginia county school board pay its professional-exempt employees extra for taking on extra duties (tutoring, mentoring, robotics tournaments, building administrator) outside their regular contracts?
Yes, with care. The constitutional extra-compensation clause does not bar additional pay when the duties are 'newly imposed' beyond the original contract. The salary clause only covers public officers…
Can a West Virginia county building commission consent to having an existing nursing-home lease assigned to a private for-profit nursing home operator?
Yes. Building commissions (W. Va. Code § 8-33-4) have plenary authority to lease property 'for public purposes' to whomever they deem proper, with no restriction on for-profit entities. Operating a nu…
Can the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety & Training require coal mine operators to inspect electric water pumps located in non-working areas of the mine on a pre-shift or on-shift basis?
Only weekly. The Office can require weekly inspection of all pumps under W. Va. Code § 22A-2-40(20), including those in non-working areas. But the more-frequent pre-shift or on-shift inspection requir…
When the West Virginia State Conservation Committee pays per diem compensation to elected conservation district supervisors, can the rate be a range, and should the payments go on W-2 or 1099 forms?
The per diem must be a single flat daily rate within the $30 to $150 range set by W. Va. Code § 19-21A-7(c), not a range that varies among supervisors. And the payments must be reported on W-2s, becau…
Can a West Virginia public school refuse to enroll a student, mark the student truant, or ban the student from a private after-school program just because the family is using dual enrollment to qualify for the Hope Scholarship?
No on every count. A West Virginia public school cannot bar a student who is meeting attendance and academic requirements just because the student is also enrolled in a private program, and cannot ban…
Can a West Virginia county board of education lease an active school auditorium to a for-profit company so the company can capture historic tax credits to fund renovations, with the board taking partial ownership in the for-profit?
No. A county board of education has no authority, express or implied, to lease still-in-use school property to a for-profit company, and no authority to create or co-own a for-profit entity. The Board…
Can a West Virginia county that has no zoning ordinance just declare a moratorium on industrial wind turbines, or does the county have to set up a full zoning regime first?
A West Virginia county cannot impose a wind-turbine moratorium by simple resolution. A moratorium is a zoning act, so the county must adopt a comprehensive plan, prepare a study and report, and pass a…
Can the West Virginia State Conservation Committee prorate the daily per diem rate for conservation district supervisors so they get paid by the hour rather than a flat $150?
No. 'Per diem' under W. Va. Code § 19-21A-7(c) means 'by the day' or 'for each day.' The statute uses the singular 'a per diem' twice and provides a daily rate range of $30 to $150 with no proration l…
Can a West Virginia county collect its emergency ambulance service fee from people who live in public housing, even though the housing project itself is tax-exempt?
Yes. The fee under W. Va. Code § 7-15-17 is a user fee on people, not a property tax. Public housing residents are 'users' of emergency ambulance services and may be charged. The state housing law's t…
Can the West Virginia Economic Development Authority issue Broadband Loan Insurance Program coverage to a borrower who already has the loan in place (and is using the new insurance to swap out cash collateral), and is the lender's 'but-for' creditworthiness certification valid in that scenario?
Yes, on both counts. Re-collateralizing a pre-existing loan, swapping cash collateral for BLINS-program loan insurance, fits within the broad statutory definition of an insurable 'debt instrument' und…
Do West Virginia municipal court technology and administrative fees, adopted by Home Rule cities, run afoul of the statutory rule that home-rule ordinances may not be 'contrary to' state criminal law?
No, on the facts presented. Reasonable court technology, court maintenance, and administrative fees in the $1 to $65 range that municipalities use to fund judicial-system operations are not 'contrary …
Can a West Virginia legislative rule continue to require county executive committee chairperson consent to early voting locations after the Legislature amended the underlying statute in 2011 to drop that requirement?
No, not for the consent piece. W. Va. Code of State Rules § 153-13-3.5, which gives the chairs of the county executive committees veto power over early voting locations, conflicts with the post-2011 W…
After the West Virginia Legislature amended a statute to authorize the Commissioner of Agriculture to cancel certain low-rent state farm leases on 30 days' notice, did that amendment trigger a contractual cancellation clause that the Department's existing leases tied to legislative action that 'impair[s]' the lease?
Yes. The 2021 amendment to W. Va. Code § 19-12A-5(c)(4) reduced the value of the existing leases by giving the Commissioner unilateral cancellation authority. That counts as a legislative act that 'im…
Can a West Virginia county clerk record an out-of-state probated will when only one official (acting as both judge and court clerk) signed the authentication certificate?
Yes. When a single individual in the originating state served as both the probate judge and the court clerk, a single signature on the triple-seal certification is sufficient. W. Va. Code § 57-1-12 co…
Can a West Virginia municipal police or fire pension fund credit fractional years of service when calculating retirement benefits over 20 years of service, and what does the fund have to do if it has been doing so?
No. W. Va. Code § 8-22-25(b) refers to 'years of service completed,' meaning whole years; partial years cannot be counted toward the additional 2%-per-year and 1%-per-year benefits past 20 and 25 year…
In West Virginia, can a local county health officer issue a binding mask requirement or other public-health rule on his own, or does it have to come from the local board of health?
It must come from the local board of health, not the health officer alone. The AG concluded that under W. Va. Code §§ 16-2-11 and 16-3-2, only a local board of health (not its individual executive off…
Can West Virginia require state employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine or require businesses to check vaccine passports?
The West Virginia AG concluded that a blanket state-employee vaccine mandate or a statewide vaccine-passport requirement, without medical or religious exceptions, would likely violate the West Virgini…
If a West Virginia county commissioner dies and the county commission misses its 30-day deadline to appoint a replacement, can the local party committee nominate the late commissioner's spouse even if she only just recently registered with the party?
Yes. The 60-day party-membership requirement in § 3-10-7(a) applies only when the county commission itself fills a vacancy. Once that 30-day window passes and the local party executive committee takes…
In West Virginia, if my neighbor's cows keep wandering onto my property, am I supposed to build a fence to keep them out, or is the cattle owner supposed to build one to keep them in?
The cattle owner. West Virginia is a 'fence-in' state: a livestock owner who lets cattle run at large is liable for civil damages and can also face criminal misdemeanor penalties under § 19-18-3. The …
When a coal operator wants a site-specific exemption for diesel-powered equipment in an underground mine, who decides, the WV Office of Miners' Health, Safety & Training or the State Coal Mine Safety Technical Review Committee?
The Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training (OMHST) decides. The legislature gave the Technical Review Committee and Coal Board general site-specific rulemaking authority for mine safety, but a …
Do West Virginia's filing-office-hours rules in W. Va. Code § 3-5-7(c) (requiring offices to stay open until particular times on the last day candidates can file) apply to municipal elections?
No. The hours-of-operation rules in W. Va. Code § 3-5-7(c) cannot be 'applied' to municipal elections because the statute prescribes different hours for county clerks (9:00 a.m. to noon) and the Secre…
Does West Virginia have to recognize a new political party every time a write-in candidate registered as 'Independent' wins more than 1% of the vote in a gubernatorial election?
No. Under W. Va. Code § 3-1-8, a new political party arises only when an 'affiliation of voters representing any principle or organization' achieves 1% support for its gubernatorial candidate. Voters …
Does West Virginia's daily mine-inspection requirement apply to a coal mine that has stopped producing coal and where the operator is dismantling and removing surface equipment but has not yet surrendered the underground mine permit?
The AG concluded the best reading of W. Va. Code § 22A-2-53c(10)(e) is that the daily inspection-and-recording duty does not apply when the only ongoing activity is dismantling and moving surface equi…
Can West Virginia's State Conservation Committee receive and pass through federal Clean Water Act Section 319 grants for water quality projects, and does it have to use the local conservation districts as the only sub-recipients?
On the first question, the AG concluded the SCC's authority to use Section 319 grants for water-quality (as opposed to soil/erosion) projects is uncertain under W. Va. Code Chapter 19, Article 21A; th…
In a West Virginia county that imposes an ambulance fee, does the sheriff have to be the one who bills and collects it, or can the county commission give the job to someone else?
The AG concluded that the sheriff is the default bill collector under W. Va. Code § 7-5-1 and cannot refuse the role, but the county commission can affirmatively designate a different employee, the am…
On a West Virginia fire chief appointment exam, do veterans get five extra points, and can the city add bonus points for years of service in the local fire department?
The AG concluded that under W. Va. Code § 6-13-1, the five-point veteran preference must be added to every passing exam score for an appointment-based vacancy, including current department members. Ex…
Is the West Virginia Housing Development Fund the only entity allowed to act as the federally contracted administrator of Section 8 project-based housing vouchers in West Virginia?
The AG concluded the Fund was the only West Virginia entity with statewide statutory authority to operate as a public housing authority and therefore the only one eligible to be HUD's Performance Base…
When the only firefighter eligible for promotion to fire chief turns down the job, how does the city fill the vacancy?
The AG concluded that under W. Va. Code §§ 8-15-20 and 8-15-22, if no eligible promotion candidate accepts the chief job, the Civil Service Commission must run a new competitive chief exam open to any…
Can the West Virginia Secretary of State use emergency rulemaking to change election procedures during a public-health crisis like COVID-19?
The AG concluded that the Governor's March 2020 disaster declaration triggered W. Va. Code § 3-1A-6(e), giving the Secretary of State broad emergency rulemaking power to expand voter access, like read…
Does West Virginia law force a county commission to clean debris out of a creek or stream when a water utility or property owner asks them to?
The AG read W. Va. Code § 7-1-3u as a grant of authority, not a mandate. Counties were authorized to dredge, remove debris, and do other flood-control work in streams, but the statute did not require …
Does a West Virginia county sheriff have to appoint a deputy as humane officer, or can the sheriff hold that role personally?
The AG concluded that the plain text of W. Va. Code § 7-10-1 makes the appointment mandatory: a sheriff must designate a deputy (or, with county-commission agreement, the county dog warden) as humane …
Does a West Virginia county commission have to pay back the legal fees of a Public Service District board member who successfully defended an ethics complaint, and does it matter that the county dissolved the PSD before the request was decided?
No to both. The AG concluded that a county commission has neither express nor implied authority to reimburse a PSD board member's legal fees, because, unlike with solid waste authorities or planning c…
When a county commissioner files candidacy paperwork while living in one magisterial district but moves to a different district before the general election, which district counts as 'his' for the constitutional rule that no two commissioners can be elected from the same district?
The AG concluded under W. Va. Const. art. IX, § 10 and Burkhart v. Sine that a commissioner is 'elected from' the magisterial district where he or she lived on the date of the general election, not th…
Does the Hardy County 911 Center have to send copies of every initial computer-aided dispatch (CAD) to the prosecuting attorney's office on request?
The AG concluded that under W. Va. Code § 24-6-13 the 911 Center has discretion (not a duty) to send all CADs. Two narrower statutes can create mandatory disclosure: § 49-4-410 requires production for…
Can a West Virginia deputy sheriff who works in one county run for sheriff in a different county where he lives?
The AG concluded that the plain text of W. Va. Code § 7-14-15(a)(4) only forbids deputy sheriffs from being a candidate or holding office 'in the county in which he or she is employed.' A Hardy County…
When out-of-state organizers run a one-weekend drag racing event filmed by Discovery Channel, do they and their food and merchandise vendors need West Virginia business licenses, and is it legal for spectators to bet on the races?
The AG concluded that event organizers and merchandise/food vendors all need a West Virginia business registration certificate under W. Va. Code § 11-12-3, food vendors additionally need a permit from…
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Attorney general opinions in West Virginia are written by the West Virginia Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.