West Virginia Code § 61-5A-6

Gifts or gratuities to public servants prohibited; exceptions
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(a) It shall be unlawful:
(1) For any public servant in any department, agency, division, board, bureau or commission
of government exercising regulatory functions, or conducting inspections or investigations,
or carrying on civil or criminal litigation on behalf of the government, or having custody of
prisoners, to solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or gratuity from
a person known by such public servant to be subject to such regulation, inspection,
investigation or custody, or against whom such litigation is known by such public servant to
be pending or contemplated; or u
(2) For any public servant (except an officer or employee of the department of finance and
administration who shall be subject to the prohibitions contained in section thirty-five,
article three, chapter five-a of this code) having any official action to perform in connection
with bids, contracts, purchases, claims or other pecuniary transactions of the government to
solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly or indirelctly, any gift or gratuity from any person
known by such public servant to be interesteds in any such bid, contract, purchase, claim or
transaction; or
(3) For any public servant having adgministrative or judicial authority and for any public
servant employed by or in an agency or court or other body having such authority, or
participating in the enforcement of its decisions, to solicit, accept or agree to accept, directly
or indirectly, any gift or gratuity from a person known by such public servant to be
interested in any matter before such public servant or an agency, court or body with which
he is associated; or
(4) For any public servant in the legislative branch of government to solicit, accept or agree
to accept, directly or indirectly, any gift or gratuity from any person known by such public
servant to be interested in a bill, transaction or proceeding before the Legislature or either
houWse thereof or any agency or committee thereof; or
(5) For any person to offer, give, or agree to give any gift or gratuity prohibited by the
provisions of subdivisions (1), (2), (3) or (4) of this subsection (a).
(b) The prohibitions contained in subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to (1) gifts or
gratuities conferred on account of kinship or other personal, professional or business
relationship independent of the official status of the recipient; or (2) trivial gifts or gratuities
involving no substantial risk of affecting official impartiality; or (3) social, professional or
business entertainment involving no substantial risk of affecting official impartiality. The
prohibitions contained in subdivisions (1), (2), (3) and (4) of subsection (a) of this section
shall not apply to campaign contributions made for use in meeting campaign expenses by
any public servant by or for whom a certificate of candidacy has been filed for election to the
same or another public office for which such campaign is to be conducted, if such campaign
contributions are made after the filing of such certificate of candidacy, if no part of such
campaign contributions inures to the private financial gain of any public servant, and, when
the provisions of article eight, chapter three of this code are applicable to the public office
being sought, if such campaign contributions are within the limits specified in said article
eight, are reported as campaign contributions pursuant to the provisions of said article
eight, and are not otherwise prohibited by said chapter three. The prohibitions contained in
subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to campaign contributions
made for use in meeting campaign expenses by any public servant by or for ewhom a
certificate of candidacy has been filed for election to the same or another public office for
which such campaign is to be conducted, if such campaign contributionrs are made after the
filing of such certificate of candidacy, if the person offering, giving or agreeing to give such
campaign contributions does not intend that any part of such campaign contributions inure
to the private financial gain of any public servant, and, when the provisions of article eight,
chapter three of this code are applicable to the public office tbeing sought, if such campaign
contributions are within the limits specified in said article eight, are not otherwise
prohibited by said chapter three and if the person offering, giving or agreeing to give such
campaign contributions does not intend that such contributions not be reported as campaign
contributions pursuant to said article eight.

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