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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If a regional airport authority sits on the line between two states under an interstate compact, which state's open-meetings law governs its meetings?
The AG concluded that West Virginia's open-meetings law applied to the Potomac Highlands Airport Authority. The 1998 federal compact creating the authority did not pick a state law, so the AG analyzed…
How does West Virginia's Emergency Ambulance Service Act of 1975 actually constrain how a county ambulance authority's board operates: appointments, terms, proxies, officers, billing, and ambulance management?
The AG worked through six questions for Mineral County. Only the county commission can appoint board members (the Act gives no role to squads or hospitals beyond recommending candidates). Members must…
Can a West Virginia county commission accept funds from a private oil-and-gas industry group to digitize and put online the county's property and mineral records, with the records remaining freely available to the public?
Yes, with the same conditions the AG laid out in its July 11, 2013 Tyler County opinion. The donation must benefit the county or commission as a whole (not any individual official), no private party m…
If a West Virginia farmer signed a conservation easement that bans utility lines on his land, can a fiber-optic line still be built across the property to serve other residents?
Maybe. The AG concluded that conservation-easement restrictions are not absolute, and identified at least three statutory paths that could permit a utility right-of-way despite the easement's literal …
If a private estate pays for a building on West Virginia State Farm Museum land owned by the county, does the construction project have to go through public competitive bidding?
On the facts presented, no. The AG concluded that the West Virginia Fairness in Competitive Bidding Act would not apply because, applying the five-factor 'real parties in interest' test from Affiliate…
Can a non-lawyer who is the sole owner of an LLC represent that LLC in West Virginia circuit court collections cases?
No. The AG concluded that a non-lawyer member of an LLC cannot appear in a West Virginia circuit court on behalf of the LLC. The general rule against non-lawyers practicing law in courts of record app…
Can a West Virginia county commission lease an apartment in a county-owned building to a private individual as a residence?
No. The AG concluded that county commissions have no statutory authority, express or implied, to lease real property to a private individual for private residential use. The two express leasing powers…
If a West Virginia primary candidate filed a notarized statement of withdrawal after the legal deadline, must the votes for that candidate still be counted, and what happens if the withdrawn candidate wins?
Yes, the votes must be counted, and if the withdrawn candidate wins, he must be certified as the winner. The AG concluded that an untimely withdrawal under W. Va. Code § 3-5-11(a) must simply be disal…
Can a West Virginia county ambulance authority sue in magistrate court to collect unpaid emergency ambulance fees?
No, not for the special county-wide fees imposed under W. Va. Code § 7-15-17. The AG concluded that those fees are levied and collected by the county commission, not the ambulance authority. The autho…
Can a West Virginia state agency include performance incentives in an employee's contract, and can it pay severance under a litigation settlement after the employment ends?
Yes to both. The AG concluded that bargained-for performance incentives included in an employment contract from the outset are not 'extra compensation' under W. Va. Const. art. VI, § 38, because they …
Can a West Virginia public agency sue the contractor for construction defects in a building completed in 1982 when the problems are only discovered in 2012?
No. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 55-2-6a, the ten-year statute of repose for tort and contribution claims arising from defective construction, foreclosed the Public Service Commission from suin…
Does a West Virginia county commission have to provide ambulance service, and how can it pay for it?
Yes, but with a money-availability caveat. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 7-15-4 requires county commissions to make emergency ambulance service available where it is not otherwise available, but…
Can a West Virginia county accept private donations to digitize property and mineral records and extend courthouse hours, and does it have to use competitive bidding for the digitization?
The AG concluded that the county commission may accept private monetary donations for digitization or extended hours, as long as the donations are unsolicited and benefit the county as a whole rather …
Can a West Virginia county business development authority use coalbed methane severance tax money to renovate a building that will serve as its headquarters?
Yes, with county commission approval. The AG concluded that renovating the Clay County Business Development Authority's headquarters and meeting facility falls within the permissible statutory uses of…
When a vacancy opens up on a three-member West Virginia county commission, who picks the replacement, must they be from the same magisterial district as the previous commissioner, and must they be from the same political party?
The remaining two commissioners select the replacement (they constitute a quorum); if they cannot agree within thirty days, the political party's county executive committee picks. The replacement must…
Does a West Virginia county commission have to fund a sanitarian at the local health department, what minimum funding does it owe the health department, and can it skip publishing legal notices in one of two same-owner newspapers that are listed as opposite-politics papers?
The AG concluded: (1) state law requires a county commission to provide 'financial support' to a local health board it created, but does not require funding for any specific position like a sanitarian…
When a county commission must appoint someone to fill a sheriff vacancy with someone from the same political party as the previous sheriff, does it matter how long the appointee has been a member of that party?
No. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 3-10-8 requires the appointee to be 'of the same political party as the officeholder vacating the office,' but the statute does not impose any minimum duration …
When a West Virginia sheriff resigns mid-term, must the county commission appoint someone to fill the vacancy, when must an election be held to choose a permanent successor, and can the commission skip the appointment by holding a special election sooner?
The AG concluded the commission has a mandatory duty to appoint a same-party replacement (no specific deadline, but as soon as practicable). The next election to fill the unexpired term must occur at …
Can the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy issue a declaratory ruling that strikes down part of its own enabling statute as void for vagueness, preempted, or unconstitutional?
No. The AG concluded that fundamental principles of constitutional and administrative law forbid the Board of Pharmacy from issuing a declaratory ruling holding W. Va. Code § 30-5-12b void for vaguene…
Is West Virginia's matching-funds system for publicly financed Supreme Court of Appeals candidates constitutional after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Arizona's similar law?
No. The AG concluded that the matching-funds provisions in W. Va. Code §§ 3-12-11(e)-(i), which gave extra public money to certified candidates whenever a privately financed opponent or independent gr…
If a state employee scheduled to work on the Saturday, August 28, 2010 special election day claims paid voting leave, does that employee also get a comparable day off because the election day is a legal holiday?
Yes, but the two benefits are not stacked on top of each other. The AG concluded that state employees scheduled to work and actually working on Saturday, August 28, 2010 were entitled to a comparable …
Was Saturday, August 28, 2010, the special primary election to fill Senator Byrd's Senate seat, a legal holiday for West Virginia state employees, and did employees scheduled to work get paid time off to vote?
Yes, partly. The AG concluded that under W. Va. Code § 2-2-1(a)(13), any day on which a primary, general, or special election is held is automatically a legal holiday throughout the state. The Saturda…
If a West Virginia State Election Commission member receives a daily per-diem allowance, can he or she also keep a job in the state classified service, or does the per diem turn the position into a 'paid public office' that bars classified employment?
The position becomes a paid public office, so dual service is barred. The AG concluded that membership on the West Virginia State Election Commission is a public office (it satisfies all five criteria…
After Senator Robert C. Byrd's death in 2010, did the Governor of West Virginia have legal authority to call a special election to fill the rest of his Senate term, and on what timetable?
Yes. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 3-10-3, read in light of the Seventeenth Amendment's command that Senate vacancies be filled by election, authorized Governor Manchin to proclaim a special ele…
After the 2008 amendment to W. Va. Code § 59-1-10(a)(1) said county clerks could keep $11 of certain recording fees for their office's operation, can clerks set up a separate fund for those retained fees, or must the money go to the county treasury under the older general statute?
Clerks can keep the $11 for their offices and may set up a separate fund to receive it. The AG concluded that the 2008 amendment in S.B. 622 conflicts with the older provisions in W. Va. Code §§ 59-1-…
Can a West Virginia charitable raffle licensee use a ticket dispenser machine to sell raffle tickets, and can the State Tax Commissioner enforce five operating criteria he set for those machines, including a ban on paying money or tokens directly to players?
Yes on both, with a qualification on enforcement. The AG concluded that the Tax Commissioner's interpretation of the Charitable Raffles Act and the Charitable Raffle Boards and Games Act was reasonabl…
Can the Governor of West Virginia (or his chief of staff) freeze discretionary salary increases at an independent Chapter 30 licensing board, like the Board of Dental Examiners, that is funded entirely from licensure fees and does not report to a cabinet secretary?
No. The AG concluded that the West Virginia Board of Dental Examiners, a Chapter 30 licensing board, is statutorily independent of the Governor's executive control. The Legislature gave the Board sole…
Did real estate transactions between the West Virginia State Armory Board and other public bodies need approval by the Board of Public Works?
Yes. The 2007 AG opinion concluded that the acquisition and disposition of real property by and between the State Armory Board and other public bodies was subject to approval by the West Virginia Boar…
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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.