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2020 Op. W. Va. Att'y Gen. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.sag/sagwv0063 and id is 1 raw text is: 







                                  State of West Virginia
                              Office of the Attorney General
                                       State Capitol
                                  Building 1, Room 26-E
                               Charleston, WV  25305-0220

Patrick Morrisey                                                           (304) 558-2021
Attorney General                                                       Fax (304) 558-0140

                                     February 4, 2020




The Honorable F. Cody Pancake, III
Mineral County Prosecuting Attorney
P.O. Drawer 458
Keyser, WV  26726

Dear Prosecutor Pancake:

       You have asked for an Opinion of the Attorney General addressing whether West Virginia
Code  § 7-1-3u requires county commissions to assume the responsibility or expense of removing
debris from local waterways. This Opinion is being issued pursuant to West Virginia Code § 5-3-
2, which provides that the Attorney General may consult with and advise the several prosecuting
attorneys in matters relating to the official duties of their office. To the extent this Opinion relies
on facts, it is based solely on the factual assertions in your correspondence with the Office of the
Attorney General.

       In your letter, you explain that a local public water association has asked the Mineral
County Commission  to remove debris from a local waterway. According to the association, West
Virginia Code § 7-1-3u requires the Commission to assume responsibility for this role.

       Your letter raises the following legal question:

       To what  extent does West  Virginia Code § 7-1-3u  impose a duty on  county
       commissions to remove debris from local waterways and pay for that removal?

       We  conclude that the statute gives county commissions authority to clean local waterways,
but does not require them to do so at an individual's or entity's request.

                                       Discussion

       West Virginia Code  § 7-1-3u, titled Authority of counties and municipalities to treat
streams to prevent floods, provides:

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