(a) The Commission shall initiate, by lottery, random audits of lobbyist registration statements and disclosure reports required to be filed under this chapter on or after July 1, 2005: Provided, That the Commission may not conduct compliance audits pursuant to this section until it has proposed for promulgation and received final approval from the Legislature of a legislative rule in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code setting forth, among other things, the manner in which the audit is to be conducted, the information, documents and materials to be considered during the audit, the selection and qualification of the Auditor(s), the audit procedures to be employed by the Auditors and the preparation and contents of any post-audit reports.

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 6B-3-11

  • commission: means the West Virginia Ethics Commission. See West Virginia Code 6B-1-3
  • Lobbyist: means any individual employed by a lobbying firm or who is otherwise employed or contracts for economic consideration, other than reimbursement for reasonable travel expenses, to communicate directly or through his or her agents with any elective state official, agency official or legislative official for the purpose of promoting, advocating, opposing or otherwise attempting to influence:

    (i) The passage or defeat or the executive approval or veto of any legislation which may be considered by the Legislature of this state. See West Virginia Code 6B-3-1

(b) The Commission may hold up to four lotteries per year. The number of lotteries held within a given year will be a matter within the Commission's discretion.

(c) The number of audits to be conducted will be determined by the Commission through resolutions adopted at public meetings and based on various factors, including the complexity, results and time required to complete the audits.

(d) No lobbyist or lobbyist's employer will be subject to a random audit more than once in any 24-month period.