Prosecutor Says County Actually Won Jail Bill Case

As a result of the high court's decision
today, the Tax Commissioner has released
$360,000.00 in tax money back to the
County that was being wrongfully held
at the direction of the Jail Authority.

When contacted about today's West Virginia Supreme Court decision which ruled against Webster

County on the money it owes to the Regional Jail Authority, Webster Prosecuting Attorney Dwayne Vandevender said that the decision was in reality favorable to the County.

Vandevender said that the decision requires the Jail Authority to work out a payment plan with the County to "pay the past debt over a reasonable period of time."  He said that prior to the case being filed, the County did attempt to enter into a reasonable payment plan.  "We never argued that we didn't owe the money."  The jail authority just asked for an unreasonable amount (over a million dollars), which the County could not afford, he noted.

"So, when the high court today ruled that the Jail Authority must work out a reasonable payment plan, that is what the County asked for in the beginning," Vandevender commented.  "We asked to go to mediation [to work out a payment plan before court proceedings], but they refused," he said.

Vandevender was also pleased with the high court's decision to reject the Jail Authority's request to have the State Tax Commissioner release Webster's share of coal and gas severance taxes, liquor and cigarette taxes, etc. to the Jail Authority.  Vandevender said that the Jail Authority had no legal grounds to have the Tax Commissioner withhold those funds from the County.

After the arguments before the high court last week, Vandevender reported today that the Tax Commissioner has released over $360,000.00 to the County, which the County received this past Monday.  The Prosecutor said that those released funds have been building up and withheld from the County over the past year and one half.  He said those released funds will be used to pay the County's operating expenses, including any current jail bill, and some of it will be applied to the past jail bill owed.

The Court's actual decision today supports Vandevender's view of the opinion.  While on paper the Court ruled the County owes the money (which the County never denied), the more important decisions by the Court went against the Jail Authority; that being the requirement that they must work out a reasonable payment plan with the County and that they could not require the Tax Commissioner to surrender Webster's tax money to the Jail Authority.  "That's a win for us," Vandevender concluded.