WEST VIRGINIA LAW INSTITUTE

GOVERNING COUNCIL

MINUTES

Meeting of April 12, 2017

1. The Governing Council of the West Virginia Law Institute met on April 12, 2017, in the offices of the West Virginia State Bar in Charleston. The meeting was called to order and chaired by President Scott Curnutte. Also in attendance or participating by phone were Council members Brian Abraham, Amber Brugnoli, Vince Cardi, Edward George, Chief Justice Allen Loughry, Meshea Poore, Rich Olsen, Will Rhee, Judge James Rowe, Delegate John Shott, Jacqueline Wilson, William Wooton, Director/Secretary Robert Bastress, and Council Assistant Anna Dewitt.

2. Approval of the minutes of the Council's September 26, 2016, meeting was moved and seconded. The motion carried.

3. Director Bastress reported that the Institute has about $21,780 remaining in its account.

4. Director Bastress reported on the status of the following research projects:

A. The survey of state Administrative Procedure Acts has been completed and has been submitted to legislative leaders.

B. The research on redistricting has been completed, including a survey of the fifty states' methods and a canvassing of the secondary literature and the case law. That research was submitted to legislative leaders during the past legislative session. Director Bastress will also use the research to complete a law review article on the subject.

C. The landlord-tenant project has completed its comparison of the proposed Uniform Landlord Tenant Act with West Virginia's current laws. That comparison, the Uniform Act, and a proposal that the Institute had drafted about ten years ago were submitted to the Legislature this past session. The most significant changes would be to provide greater definition to the warranty of habitability, to limit landlord self-help measures, to require notice by landlords prior to entry (except in cases of emergency), and to create protections for both landlords and tenants for when criminal acts occur on the rented property.

D. Work on the revision of the Legislature's Bill Drafting Manual has progressed. The student reports that the majority of the content is completed. She has been working with W.V.U. Professor David Hardesty, who has taught the College of Law's Legislation course. She will also be coordinating her work with Council Member and Director of Legislative Services, Rich Olsen.

E. The Council has completed its survey of partition suit statutes in the energy states, but one part of it needs to be reworked. When that is done, the report will be submitted to the Legislature.

G. The research project on probate reform has progressed. The student working on the project has completed a chart comparing West Virginia's current probate laws with the provisions of the Uniform Probate Code. That step was necessary because the State's laws are scattered throughout several different chapters of the Code. The student is working with John Allevato and Chris Winton, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the State Bar's Probate Committee.

H. After two teams of students had failed to make much progress on the surrogate decision-maker project, the Institute recently hired another student to take over that work. He is eager to do the work on it.

5. Delegate Shott brought two items of new business to the Council's attention. One concerned the manner in which the State handles DUI cases, which have now produced a large administrative backlog and are currently processed on two parallel tracks. The second item concerned the State's public defender system, which has continued to generate questions regarding its efficiency (or lack of efficiency) through the mix of public and private representation of criminal defendants and the processing of private counsel's billing.

Council Member Wooton moved and Delegate Shott seconded that the Council undertake a survey of how other states process DUI cases and to assess whether assigning the cases to magistrate courts would be more efficient. The motion passed

Delegate Shott then moved and Member Wooton seconded that the Council undertake a study of states similar to West Virginia to determine how those states structure and fund state-funded representation in criminal defense, abuse and neglect, and guardian ad litem cases. The motion carried.

6. The Council set its next meeting for 3:00 P.M on October 13, 2017, at the W.V.U. College of Law in Morgantown.

7. The meeting was adjourned.