Right to counsel
West Virginia, Legislation, Forfeiture (incomplete)
W. Va. Code, § 29-21-2 provides for appointment of public defenders in “forfeiture proceedings brought pursuant to article seven, chapter sixty-a of this code [§§ 60A-7-701 et seq.].” The referred-to article is the West Virginia Contraband Forfeiture Act.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has affirmed that proceedings listed in § 29-21-2 are “[t]he legal proceedings to which indigents are entitled to court appointed counsel …” Mooney v. Frazier, 693 S.E.2d 333, 337 (W. Va. 2010).
Because forfeiture is authorized in other areas of the code and no associated right to counsel was found for those proceedings, we have classified the right to counsel as qualified.
Appointment of Counsel: Yes
Qualified: Yes
