§30-1-2a Required orientation session. - West Virginia Statutes

§30-1-2a. Required orientation session.
(a) After the first day of April and not later than the first day of December of each year, the auditor shall provide at least one orientation session on relevant state law and rules governing state boards and commissions. All state agencies shall cooperate with and assist in providing the orientation session if the auditor requests.

(b) After the effective date of this section, all chairs or chief financial officers of state boards and commissions newly created by the Legislature shall attend an orientation session designed to inform the state boards and commissions of the duties and requirements imposed on state boards and commissions by state law and rules. The chair or chief financial officer of the newly created board or commission shall attend an orientation session at the earliest possible date following the creation of the board or commission.

(c) The orientation session shall include a minimum of thirty minutes of instructional time dedicated to the statutory duty of boards to investigate and resolve complaints, including procedures for investigations, administrative hearings and remedies, due process protections, and the duty to provide public access to records of the disposition of complaints, as set forth in section five of this article.

(d) Topics for the orientation session may include, but are not limited to: The official conduct of members, state budgeting and financial procedures, purchasing requirements, open meetings requirements, ethics, rule-making procedures, records management, annual reports and any other topics the auditor determines to be essential in the fulfillment of the duties of the members of state boards and commissions.

(e) The orientation session shall be open to any member of new or existing boards and commissions and each board or commission may approve expense reimbursement for the attendance of one or more of its members. The chair or chief financial officer of each existing board or commission shall attend an orientation session within two years following the effective date of this section.

(f) No later than the thirty-first day of December of each year, the auditor shall provide to the chairs of the joint standing committee on government operations a list of the names of board or commission members attending, together with the names of the boards and commissions represented, the orientation session or sessions offered by the auditor during the previous year.

(g) The auditor may charge a registration fee for the orientation session to cover the cost of providing the orientation session. The fee may be paid from funds available to a board or commission.

(h) Notwithstanding the member's normal rate of compensation for serving on a board, a member attending the orientation session may be reimbursed for necessary and actual expenses, as long as the member attends the complete orientation session.

(i) Ex officio members who are elected or appointed state officers or employees, and members of boards or commissions that have purely advisory functions with respect to a department or agency of the state, are exempt from the requirements of this section.