West Virginia Code 48-26-603 – Domestic Violence Legal Services Fund
(a) There is continued in the State Treasury a special revenue account, designated as the "Domestic Violence Legal Services Fund," that shall be an appropriated fund for receipt of grants, gifts, fees, or federal or state funds designated for legal services for domestic violence victims. Expenditures from the fund shall be limited to attorneys employed or contracted by licensed domestic violence programs, or employed or contracted by West Virginia's federally designated legal services program, its successor organization or other nonprofit organization as determined by the department, that establish a collaborative relationship with a licensed domestic violence program, to provide civil legal services to victims of domestic violence.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 48-26-603
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- State: means a state of the United States, or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 48-14-601
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(b) Any court of this state may order a nonprevailing party to pay an amount equivalent to the reasonable attorney's fee to which the prevailing litigant would be entitled into the Domestic Violence Legal Services Fund, established in subsection (a) of this section, if the following circumstances occur:
(1) A prevailing litigant is entitled by statute or common law to a reasonable attorney's fee, and
(2) The prevailing litigant's legal counsel informs the court that no fee will be requested.