32 fined not more than five hundred dollars, or be confined in jail not 33 more than one year, or be both fined and imprisoned, and in addi34 tion thereto shall forfeit his office. Whenever any court of com35 petent jurisdiction by mandamus, injunction, or trial of 36 any action at law, or other judicial proceeding, shall ascer37 tain or determine that any member or officer has negligently or 38 wilfully violated any of the provisions of this section, it shall en39 ter an order declaring the office of such member or officer for40 feited.

41

Any taxpayer of the county, district, board of education or 42 municipality, as the case may be, or the state tax commissioner, 43 for the use and benefit of the county, district, board of education 44 or municipality, as the case may be, may, in his name institute 45 and prosecute to final judgment (including the right of appeal to 46 the supreme court of the state) in any court having jurisdiction, 47 proper action, suit or proceeding, against the individual members 48 of a county court, board of education, municipal council or other 49 bodies in lieu thereof, to recover from them any moneys expend50 ed in violation of, or without authority of law. All moneys re51 covered in any such action, suit or proceeding shall be paid into 52 the treasury of the proper fiscal body to the credit of the proper 53 fund. The plaintiff, in case he prevails, shall recover his costs. 54 against the defendants, including a reasonable attorney's fee to be 55 fixed by the trial court and included in the taxation of costs. Any 56 such taxpayer, or the state tax commissioner, shall have the right 57 to institute and prosecute to final judgment, any proceeding for 58 the removal of any member of any county court, board of educa59 tion, municipal council or other bodies in lieu thereof, for ex60 pending public moneys in violation of, or without authority of 61 law. Upon the filing of a petition by such taxpayer or the state 62 tax commissioner, either in term or vacation, the court, or judge, 63 shall set a time for hearing such petition. An attested copy of 64 the petition, and specification of charges therein contained, shall 65 be served for a period of at least twenty days upon the defend66 ants named therein, and no other pleading or notice of such pro67 ceeding shall be necessary.

68 All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby 69 repealed.

CHAPTER 86.

(Senate Bill No. 192.)

AN ACT to amend and re-enact section seventy-three, of chapter twenty-nine of the code, relating to the assessment of taxes.

[Passed February 26, 1915. In effect ninety days from passage. Governor March 4, 1915.]

Approved by the

forced, and duty of tax commissioner and prosecuting attorney hereunder; trial by jury reserved to either party; compensation for collection, and residue to be paid sheriff and apportioned; provision as to return of estate of deceased person, and action thereunder; judgment a lien, and to apply to return of property for fiscal year beginning July 1, 1915. Inconsistent acts repealed.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section seventy-three chapter twenty-nine of the code, relating to taxation, be, and the same is hereby amended and reenacted so as to read as follows:

Section 73. If any person whose duty it is by law to list any 2 rcal estate or personal property for taxation, refuse to furnish a 3 proper list thereof, or refuse to furnish a list within the time re4 quired by law, or to make such oath as required by this chapter; 5 or if any person refuse to answer, or answer untruly, any question 6 asked him by the assessor, or fail or refuse to deliver any state7 ment required by law, he shall forfeit not less than twenty-five 8 dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, and shall be denied 9 all remedy provided by law for the correction of any assessment 10 made by the assessor. If any person, firm or corporation, includ11 ing the public service corporations, named in section one hundred 12 and eighteen of this chapter, required by law to make return of 13 property for taxation, whether such return is to be made to the 14 assessor, the board of public works, or any other assessing officer 15 or body, fails to return a true list of all property which should be 16 assessed in this state, including money, credits and investments, 17 such person, firm or corporation, in addition to all other penalties. 18 provided by law, shall forfeit ten per centum of the value of the 19 property not returned and not otherwise taxed in this state. A 20 forfeiture may be enforced for any such default occurring in any 21 year not exceeding five years prior to the time the same is discov

22 ered. Each failure to make a true return as herein required, shall 23 constitute a separate offense, and a forfeiture shall apply to each. 24 of them, but all such forfeitures to which the same person, firm 25 or corporation is liable, shall be enforced in one proceeding against 26 such person, firm or corporation, or against the estate of any de27 ceased person, and shall not exceed fifty per centum of the prop28 erty not returned. It shall be the duty of the state tax commis29 sioner, or prosecuting attorney of the county in which the default30 ing taxpayer resides, or in which county such property should have 31 been returned, to enforce the collection of the same in the name of 32 the state of West Virginia against the defaulting taxpayer, or in 33 case of a decedent, his personal representative, in the circuit court, 34 upon motion, whereof the defendant shall have at least twenty 35 days notice. Either party shall have the right to have the issue 36 tried by jury, and the state, as well as the defendant, shall have 37 the right to an appeal. The prosecuting attorney shall receive 38 ten per centum of the amount collected as his compensation, and 39 an attorney's fee of ten dollars; or, if the suit be instituted by the 40 state tax commissioner, ten per centum of the amount collected. 41 and an attorney's fee of ten dollars shall be paid to any person 42 employed by the state tax commissioner to prosecute such pro43 ceedings, to be taxed as part of the cost against the defendant, in 44 the event a judgment is recovered against such defendant; the res45 idue collected on said judgment shall be turned over to the sheriff 46 and his receipt taken therefor. The sheriff shall apportion said 47 fund among the state, county, district, school district and munici48 palities which would have been entitled to the taxes on said 49 property if it had been assessed, in the proportion that the 50 rate of taxation for each purpose, for the current year in 51 which judgment is obtained, bears to the sum of the 52 rates for all purposes. When the list of property returned 53 by the appraisers of the estate of any deceased person 54 shows an amount greater than the last assessment list of such de55 ceased person next preceding the appraisement of his estate, it 56 shall be prima facie evidence that such deceased person returned 57 an imperfect list of his property; provided, however, that any one 58 liable for the tax, or his personal representative, may always be 59 permitted to prove by competent evidence that the discrepancy 60 between said assessment list and the appraisement of the estate, 81 is caused by a difference of valuation returned by the assessor and

62 that made by the appraisers of the same property or by property 63 acquired after assessment, or that any property enumerated in 64 the appraisers' list had been otherwise listed for taxation, or that 65 it was not liable to taxation. Any judgment recovered under this 66 section shall be a lien, from the time of the service of the notice, 67 upon all the real estate and personal property of such defaulting tax68 payer, owned at the time or subsequently acquired, in preference 69 to any other lien. The provisions of this act shall apply to return 70 of property for taxation for the fiscal year beginning July first, 71 one thousand nine hundred and fifteen.

Sec. 74. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the pro2 visions of this act are hereby repealed.

CHAPTER 87.

(Senate Bill No. 328.)

AN ACT to amend and re-enact sections six, seven and ten of chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, as last amended and re-enacted, relating to assessors, assistant assessors, and the salary of assessors and assistant assessors.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That sections six, seven and ten of chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, as last amended and re-enacted, be and the same are hereby amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 6. Each county in the state shall constitute one as2 sessment district, and shall elect one assessor, whose term of 3 office shall be four years. The assessors now in office shall serve 4 until the expiration of the term for which they were elected, and 5 their successors shall be elected at the general election of one

6 thousand nine hundred and sixteen, and every four years there7 after. No person shall be eligible to the office of assessor who 8 is not a resident of the county and a freeholder therein at the 9 time of his election. The county court shall provide the asses10 sor with an office in the courthouse, which shall be kept oper 11 during the time the assessor is listing property.

Sec. 7. In every county whose population, as shown by the 2 next registration of voters last preceding the election of an as3 sessor, on the basis of a population of five for each voter so regis4 tered, does not exceed twenty thousand, there shall be appointed 5 two assistant assessors; in each county whose population is thus 6 shown to exceed twenty-two thousand five hundred, and not to ex7ceed thirty thousand, there shall be appointed three assistant as8 sessors; in every county whose population is thus shown to ex9 ceed thirty thousand and not to exceed sixty thousand, there 10 shall be appointed not less than two nor more than four as10-a sistant assessors; in every county whose population is thus 11 shown to exceed sixty thousand, and not to exceed seventy thou12 sand, there shall be appointed five assistant assessors; and in every 13 county whose population is thus shown to exceed seventy thous14 and, there shall be appointed six assistant assessors. Each of 15 said assistant assessors shall be a voter and resident of the coun16 ty in which he is appointed.

17 There may be appointed in each county one additional as18 sistant to the number hereinbefore provided, to be known as "the 19 office assistant," who shall have the same power to assess prop20 erty as the assessor and other assistants, and shall also stay in 21 the office of the assessor throughout the year and perform the 22 clerical work of the office. The salary of such assistant shall be 23 fixed by the county court, and shall not be less than five hundred 24 dollars, nor more than nine hundred dollars annually, payable 25 proportionately at the end of each month.

Sec. 10. The assessor and his assistants in each county shall receive annually the following compensation to be paid out 3 of the county fund: Each assessor shall receive annually thirty 4 dollars for each full one hundred voters voting at the preceding 5 presidential election for president of the United States in his 6 county, for the first three thousand voters thereof; twenty-five 7 dollars for each full one hundred additional voters as aforesaid up to three thousand additional voters as aforesaid; twenty dollars

8