Email: Chapter 29, Article 23
§29-23-1. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(a) The term "boundary line dispute" means any property line of the state, county or a municipality that is in question as to its specific physical location.
(b) The term "West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey" means that entity established by article two, chapter twenty-nine of this code.
§29-23-2. West Virginia boundary commission created; appointment; terms in office; expenses; powers and duties.
(a) There is hereby created a boundary commission which shall consist of three members, who shall be residents and citizens of the state, all of whom shall have experience involving map reading or surveying. The commission members shall investigate state, county and municipal boundary disputes when requested to do so by the Governor or Legislature. The commission members shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, no later than July 1, 1987. No more than two members may belong to the same political party. The commission members shall serve a term concurrent with that of the Governor's term in office. Commission members may be reappointed to additional terms.
(b) Members shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of the commission.
(c) The commission shall have the authority to:
(1) Establish a boundary line which shall be presumed correct unless proven otherwise in a court of law;
(2) Employ a surveyor or professional engineer licensed in this state to survey such boundary;
(3) Contract for the placement of monuments to identify any boundary line in dispute, such monuments to be handset by a licensed surveyor;
(4) Seek the assistance of the West Virginia geological and economic survey to identify the location of any boundary line in dispute and the recommended placement of marker locations;
(5) Meet with similar commissions or bodies of any of the several states contiguous with this state, whose purpose in their respective states is to establish state boundary lines coterminous with the boundary of the State of West Virginia and submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature, applicable to the location of any particular boundary segment in question;
(6) Recommend to the Legislature that appropriate legislation be enacted, establishing the true boundary line at those portions of the state boundary that are in dispute with another state or whose location is uncertain: Provided, That the contiguous state agrees with the recommendation;
(7) Recommend to the Legislature, where no agreement can be attained with another state as to the actual location of any portion of this state's boundary line, proper legislation to direct that the Attorney General proceed under the Constitution of the United States with litigation to adjudicate the exact and true location of any boundary line in dispute or whose precise location is unascertainable; and
(8) Prepare an annual report to the Legislature and Governor, by the first day of the legislative session, concerning commission activities, recommendations and other necessary information.
§29-23-3. Establishing and marking boundary line between Jefferson County, West Virginia, and Loudoun County, Virginia; effect of certain rights and prosecutions; transmission to members of Congress; effective date.
(a) The boundary line between Jefferson County, West Virginia, and Loudoun County, Virginia, is hereby, on the part of this state, established and declared to be the watershed line of the top of the ridge of the Blue Ridge mountains, as established by the survey approved by the commission on the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, and to be recorded in the land books in the courthouses of Jefferson County, West Virginia, and Loudoun County, Virginia.
(b) No vested right of any individual, partnership or corporation within the territory affected by this section may in any way be impaired, restricted or affected by this section. This section is not retrospective in its operation and it does not in any way affect the rights of any individual, partnership or corporation in any suit now pending in any of the courts of this state or of the United States wherein the cause of action arose over, or is in any way based upon, the territory affected. This section in no way precludes the State of West Virginia from prosecuting any individual, partnership or corporation for violation of any of the criminal laws of this state within the territory until this section goes into effect.
(c) The Secretary of State shall furnish a certified copy of this section to the Governor of the commonwealth of Virginia and shall also furnish certified copies to the United States senators from the State of West Virginia and to the representative from the second congressional district of West Virginia in the House of Representatives, who are requested to have the section presented to the Congress of the United States.
(d) The commission created by section two of this article is continued and is directed, in cooperation with the like commission created by the commonwealth of Virginia, or other agency designated by the commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose, to complete its work, including: (i) The recordation of the survey in the Jefferson County courthouse not later than April 1, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, which survey shall take into account KD Map 25A Parcel 0002 through which the watershed line runs and which includes such residence on the Virginia side of the boundary line; and (ii) the erection of permanent markers designating the boundary line set forth in this section. The markers shall be of the nature and kind the commission considers appropriate.
(e) This section shall take effect upon the adoption and approval by the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Virginia of appropriate legislation ratifying the boundary line set forth herein.