HB 2035 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Establishing pilot program for Public Guardian Ad Litem Services

HB 2035 establishes a three-year pilot program to provide legal representation for children in juvenile abuse and neglect cases through "Public Guardian ad Litem Services." It creates public guardian ad litem corporations in up to three West Virginia counties to employ full-time attorneys (public guardians) who will represent eligible minor children who cannot afford legal counsel. The bill outlines procedures for funding, conflict resolution (using Public Defender Service attorneys when needed), recordkeeping, and annual audits, with the program set to sunset after three years. This directly affects vulnerable children in specified court proceedings under West Virginia law, aiming to ensure quality legal assistance in these cases.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 12, 2025 Last action Mar 14, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from an introduced version to a committee substitute version, primarily adding navigation links and website interface elements that were not part of the original bill text. The substantive legislative content regarding the West Virginia Public Guardian ad Litem Services pilot program remained largely unchanged, with the committee version including additional context about the bill's purpose and status.

Scope change

No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; the changes are primarily related to website navigation and formatting elements.

TECHNICAL

Added website navigation links and interface elements that were not part of the original bill text.

Changed the bill title format from 'Introduced' to 'Committee Substitute' to reflect its current legislative status.

Added attribution to both Delegates Burkhammer and Funkhouser in the committee substitute version.

Included a note explaining the bill's purpose and a legend for strike-throughs and underlining.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 14, 2025

Committee

To House Finance

lower

Mar 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

By substitute, do pass, but first to Finance

lower

Mar 10, 2025

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

To House Courts

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary then Finance

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor