West Virginia Code § 5-3-2

Act as counsel for state; duties and powers as to prosecuting attorneys;
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defense of National Guardsmen.
The Attorney General shall appear as counsel for the state in all causes pending in the
Supreme Court of Appeals, or in any federal court, in which the state is interested; he shall
appear in any cause in which the state is interested that is pending in any other court in the
state, on the written request of the Governor, and when such appearance ise entered he shall
take charge of and have control of such cause; he shall defend all actions and proceedings
against any state officer in his official capacity in any of the courts of thris state or any of the
federal courts when the state is not interested in such cause against such officer, but should
the state be interested against such officer, he shall appear for the state; he shall institute
and prosecute all civil actions and proceedings in favor of or for the use of the state which
may be necessary in the execution of the official duties of anty state officer, board or
commission on the written request of such officer, board or commission; he shall, when
requested by the prosecuting attorney of a county wherein a state institution of correction is
located, provide attorneys for appointment as special prosecuting attorneys to assist the
prosecuting attorney of said county in the prosecution of criminal proceedings when, in the
opinion of the circuit judge of said county, or a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of
Appeals, extraordinary circumstances exist at said institution which render the financial
resources of the office of the prosecuting attorney inadequate to prosecute said cases; he
may consult with and advise the several prosecuting attorneys in matters relating to the
official duties of their office, and may require a written report from them of the state and
condition of the several causese, in which the state is a party, pending in the courts of their
respective counties; he may require the several prosecuting attorneys to perform, within the
respective counties in wLhich they are elected, any of the legal duties required to be
performed by the Attorney General which are not inconsistent with the duties of the
prosecuting attorney s as the legal representatives of their respective counties; when the
performance oVf any such duties by the prosecuting attorney conflicts with his duties as the
legal representative of his county, or for any reason any prosecuting attorney is disqualified
from performing such duties, the Attorney General may require the prosecuting attorney of
any other county to perform such duties in any county other than that in which such
prosecuting attorney is elected and for the performance of which duties outside of the
county in which he is elected the prosecuting attorney shall be paid his actual traveling and
other expenses out of the appropriation for contingent expenses for the department for
which such services are rendered; the Attorney General shall keep in proper books, a
register of all causes prosecuted or defended by him in behalf of the state or its officers and
of the proceedings had in relation thereto, and deliver the same to his successor in office;
and he shall preserve in his office all his official opinions and publish the same in his biennial
report.
Upon request of any member of the West Virginia National Guard who has been named
defendant in any civil action arising out of that guardsman's action while under orders from
the Governor relating to National Guard assistance in disasters and civil disorders, the
Attorney General shall appear as counsel for and represent such guardsman.

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