WVC 1 -
CHAPTER 1. THE STATE AND ITS SUBDIVISIONS.
WVC CHAPTER 1
ARTICLE 1. LIMITS AND JURISDICTION.
WVC 1-1-1
§1-1-1. Counties comprising state of West Virginia.
The state of West Virginia includes all the territory formerly
belonging to the state of Virginia and now comprising the following
counties, to wit: Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Brooke,
Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant,
Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson,
Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason,
McDowell, Mercer, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan,
Nicholas, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam,
Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler,
Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming.
WVC 1-1-2
§1-1-2. Jurisdiction over rivers.
The jurisdiction of this state also extends over all the
rivers which are boundary lines between this and any other state,
to the opposite shore, where there is no statute or compact to the
contrary.
WVC 1-1-3
§1-1-3. Acquisition of lands by United States; jurisdiction.
The consent of this state is hereby given to the acquisition
by the United States, or under its authority, by purchase, lease,
condemnation, or otherwise, of any land acquired, or to be acquired
in this state by the United States, from any individual, body
politic or corporate, for sites for lighthouses, beacons, signal
stations, post offices, customhouses, courthouses, arsenals,
soldiers' homes, cemeteries, locks, dams, armor plate manufacturing
plants, projectile factories or factories of any kind or character,
or any needful buildings or structures or proving grounds, or works
for the improvement of the navigation of any watercourse, or work
of public improvement whatever, or for the conservation of the
forests, or for any other purpose for which the same may be needed
or required by the government of the United States. The evidence
of title to such land shall be recorded as in other cases.
Any county, magisterial district or municipality, whether
incorporated under general law or special act of the Legislature,
shall have power to pay for any such tract or parcel of land and
present the same to the government of the United States free of
cost, for any of the purposes aforesaid, and to issue bonds and
levy taxes for the purpose of paying for the same; and, in the case
of a municipal corporation, the land so purchased and presented may
be within the corporate limits of such municipality or within five
miles thereof: Provided, however, That no such county, magisterial
district or municipality shall, by the issue and sale of such
bonds, cause the aggregate of its debt to exceed the limit fixed by
the constitution of this state: Provided further, That the provisions of the constitution and statutes of this state, or of
the special act creating any municipality, relating to submitting
the question of the issuing of bonds and all questions connected
with the same to a vote of the people, shall, in all respects, be
observed and complied with.
Concurrent jurisdiction with this state in and over any land
so acquired by the United States shall be, and the same is hereby,
ceded to the United States for all purposes; but the jurisdiction
so ceded shall continue no longer than the United States shall be
the owner of such lands, and if the purposes of any grant to the
United States shall cease, or the United States shall for five
consecutive years fail to use any such land for the purposes of the
grant, the jurisdiction hereby ceded over the same shall cease and
determine, and the right and title thereto shall reinvest in this
state. The jurisdiction ceded shall not vest until the United
States shall acquire title of record to such land. Jurisdiction
heretofore ceded to the United States over any land within this
state by any previous acts of the Legislature shall continue
according to the terms of the respective cessions.
WVC 1-1-4
§1-1-4. Execution of process and other jurisdiction as to land
acquired by United States.
The state of West Virginia reserves the right to execute
process, civil or criminal, within the limits of any lot or parcel
of land heretofore or hereafter acquired by the United States as
aforesaid, and such other jurisdiction and authority over the same
as is not inconsistent with the jurisdiction ceded to the United
States by virtue of such acquisition.