§7-3-2. Courthouse, jail and offices.
The county commission of every county, at the expense of the county, shall provide at the county seat thereof a suitable courthouse and jail, together with suitable offices for the judge of the circuit court and judges of courts of limited jurisdiction, clerks of circuit courts, courts of limited jurisdiction and of the county commission, assessor, sheriff, prosecuting attorney, county superintendent of schools, and surveyor, and all other offices as are or may be required by law: Provided, That the courthouse, including any annex or other facility housing the courts and offices herein set out (excepting all facilities that are on a twenty-four-hour basis), shall be open to the public Monday through Friday during the hours prescribed by the county commission by an order duly recorded in the order book of the commission. The county commission in such order may, in its discretion, provide that the courthouse, including any annex or other facility housing the courts and offices herein set out, be open on Saturday and prescribe the hours during which it shall be open. In no case may the county commission provide that the courthouse, including any annex or other facility housing the courts and offices herein set out, be open for business on Sundays or national or state holidays: Provided, however, That the county commission of every county having a population in excess of two hundred thousand may provide at the county seat or elsewhere in the county, as the county commission shall determine, a suitable jail or jails: Provided further, That the county commission of any county, regardless of population, may, as provided in article twenty-three, chapter eight of the Code of West Virginia, contract with the county commissions of one or more other counties within this state for the erection, construction, equipment, leasing and renting of a regional correctional center for either adult or youth offenders, at a location mutually agreeable to the contracting parties and not necessarily at the county seat, which will serve each county entering into the contract. The county commission shall keep the courthouse, jail and other offices in constant and adequate repair, and supplied with the necessary heat, light, furniture, record books, and janitor service, and, except as to the office for the judge of the circuit court, with the necessary stationery and postage, and other things as shall be necessary; but all of the public records, books and papers belonging or appertaining to the county surveyor's office shall be delivered to the clerk of the county commission and retained by in his official possession and under his control and shall constitute a part of the public records, books and papers of his office. All courthouses, jails and offices hereafter erected shall be built of stone and brick, or stone or brick, or other equally fireproof materials, and the offices shall be fireproof or be furnished with fireproof vaults or safes. The jails shall be well secured, and sufficient for the convenient accommodation of those who may be confined therein. The county commission may also provide other necessary offices and buildings, and may, by purchase or otherwise, acquire as much land as may be requisite or desirable for county purposes, and may suitably enclose, improve and embellish the lands so acquired.
Subject to the conditions hereinabove set forth with respect to the site of the courthouse, jail, and other offices, the commission may, from time to time, as may seem to it proper, provide, at the expense of the county, a new or other building or buildings to be used for the courthouse and jail, or for either, together with suitable offices, as aforesaid, and for that purpose may acquire, by purchase or otherwise, and hold any lands, or lands and buildings, which may be necessary, and may enclose, improve and embellish the same. When any new or other building or buildings shall be ready for occupancy, the county commission shall make an order declaring that, on a day to be therein named, the new or other building or buildings shall become the courthouse, or jail, or both the courthouse and jail of the county, and shall cause copies of the order to be posted at the front door of the new as well as of the old courthouse, at least twenty days before the day named in the order; and on and after the day named the new or other building or buildings shall become, respectively, the courthouse, or jail, or both the courthouse and jail of the county in all respects and for all purposes. After the change shall have been made the county commission may sell or otherwise dispose of, as may seem to it proper, the building or buildings previously used as a courthouse and jail, or either, and the land on which they are, or either is, situated, and of the interest of the county therein.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, any county commission providing and maintaining a jail on the effective date of this article shall not be required to provide and maintain a jail after a regional jail becomes available pursuant to the provisions of article twenty, chapter thirty-one of this code, unless the county commission determines that such a facility is necessary: Provided, That such county commission may provide and maintain a holding facility which complies with the standards set forth for such holding facilities in legislative rules promulgated by the jail and correctional facility standards commission or its predecessor, the jail and prison standards commission.
