§61-5A-6 Gifts or gratuities to public servants prohibited; exceptions. - West Virginia Statutes

§61-5A-6. Gifts or gratuities to public servants prohibited; exceptions.
(a) It shall be unlawful:

(1) For any public servant in any department, agency, division, board, bureau or commission of government exercising regulatory functions, or conducting inspections or investigations, or carrying on civil or criminal litigation on behalf of the government, or having custody of prisoners, to solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or gratuity from a person known by such public servant to be subject to such regulation, inspection, investigation or custody, or against whom such litigation is known by such public servant to be pending or contemplated; or

(2) For any public servant (except an officer or employee of the department of finance and administration who shall be subject to the prohibitions contained in section thirty-five, article three, chapter five-a of this code) having any official action to perform in connection with bids, contracts, purchases, claims or other pecuniary transactions of the government to solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or gratuity from any person known by such public servant to be interested in any such bid, contract, purchase, claim or transaction; or

(3) For any public servant having administrative or judicial authority and for any public servant employed by or in an agency or court or other body having such authority, or participating in the enforcement of its decisions, to solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or gratuity from a person known by such public servant to be interested in any matter before such public servant or an agency, court or body with which he is associated; or

(4) For any public servant in the legislative branch of government to solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or gratuity from any person known by such public servant to be interested in a bill, transaction or proceeding before the Legislature or either house thereof or any agency or committee thereof; or

(5) For any person to offer, give, or agree to give any gift or gratuity prohibited by the provisions of subdivisions (1), (2), (3) or (4) of this subsection (a).

(b) The prohibitions contained in subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to (1) gifts or gratuities conferred on account of kinship or other personal, professional or business relationship independent of the official status of the recipient; or (2) trivial gifts or gratuities involving no substantial risk of affecting official impartiality; or (3) social, professional or business entertainment involving no substantial risk of affecting official impartiality. The prohibitions contained in subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4) of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to campaign contributions made for use in meeting campaign expenses by any public servant by or for whom a certificate of candidacy has been filed for election to the same or another public office for which such campaign is to be conducted, if such campaign contributions are made after the filing of such certificate of candidacy, if no part of such campaign contributions inures to the private financial gain of any public servant, and, when the provisions of article eight, chapter three of this code are applicable to the public office being sought, if such campaign contributions are within the limits specified in said article eight, are reported as campaign contributions pursuant to the provisions of said article eight, and are not otherwise prohibited by said chapter three. The prohibitions contained in subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to campaign contributions made for use in meeting campaign expenses by any public servant by or for whom a certificate of candidacy has been filed for election to the same or another public office for which such campaign is to be conducted, if such campaign contributions are made after the filing of such certificate of candidacy, if the person offering, giving or agreeing to give such campaign contributions does not intend that any part of such campaign contributions inure to the private financial gain of any public servant, and, when the provisions of article eight, chapter three of this code are applicable to the public office being sought, if such campaign contributions are within the limits specified in said article eight, are not otherwise prohibited by said chapter three and if the person offering, giving or agreeing to give such campaign contributions does not intend that such contributions not be reported as campaign contributions pursuant to said article eight.