1863-1866
Chap. 74. - An act to provide for the appointment of Collectors in Counties where there are no Sheriffs.
Passed October 19, 1863.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
1. The auditor, with the approbation of the governor, may appoint a collector or collectors of the revenue in any county that has no sheriff, and shall allow him a reasonable compensation, to be agreed on before the service is commenced, which compensation shall not exceed twenty per centum on what may be collected and paid into the public treasury.
2. Such collector shall have a reasonable time allowed him by the auditor, and shall, before he acts, execute a bond approved by said auditor, conditioned that he will faithfully collect the revenue, levies, fines and fees in the county for which he is appointed, and account for and pay the same according to law. The said bond shall be filed in the auditor's office.
3. Any action or motion against said collector or his sureties, may be instituted or made at the instance of the auditor in the circuit court of Ohio county, or of the county wherein the seat of government may be, after thirty days notice in the case of such motion, or in the circuit court of the county in which he is appointed, by any party aggrieved.
4. Every collector shall give information to the auditor of any violation of duty by any assessor of the revenue of his county.
5. Such collector shall have the same power to collect, and appoint deputies to collect, taxes, levies, fines, or officer's fees, and distrain and sell therefor, and be charged with the same duties in respect thereto that the sheriff would have been charged with; and the deputy collectors shall have the same power and duties in relation thereto, and for the same length of time that the collector himself has; and defaults and misfeasances of the deputy collectors shall be as much a breach of the condition of the collector's bonds, and of the bonds of such deputies, as defaults of the deputies of a sheriff would have been a breach of the condition of the bond of the sheriff, and of the bonds his deputies.
Timeline of West Virginia: Civil War and Statehood: October 1863