...in the Executive Branch?
Rules are made by constitutional officers, cabinet secretaries,
major departments, divisions within departments, and by boards, commissions and
authorities established by law. For that reason, it is sometimes hard to
identify the governing body which has authority to make rules on a particular
subject. For example, the Secretary of State is the Chief Election Officer
of the state, but the Legislature assigned specific authority to the State
Election Commission to make rules on campaign finance.
Constitutional Officers: The six statewide elected
executive officers each have administrative responsibilities which may require
rules. The Governor administers through the agencies, boards and
commissions under his authority. The State Auditor, Attorney General, Secretary
of State, State Treasurer, and Commissioner of Agriculture administer assigned
duties directly.
Cabinet Secretaries and Executive Departments:
The Governor appoints a Secretary for six of the major departments under his
direct authority. In some cases, specific authority to make rules falls
to the Office of the Secretary. In other cases, the specific department
is the rule-making authority. The cabinet-level departments are:
Administration, Education &
Arts, Health & Human Resources, Military Affairs
& Public Safety, Tax and Revenue and Transportation.
Some other departments, such as Energy and Commerce report directly to the
Governor and do not have a Secretary. The larger departments are divided into
different divisions built around
specific functions, and each of those may have rule-making authority.
Independent Departments: In West Virginia, the
Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education are not
directly under the control of the Governor or the Secretary of Education
& Arts , but instead are controlled by governing boards or commissions.
Boards and Commissions: The Legislature (or in
some cases the Constitution) may create a board, commission, council or other
authority and assign duties and rule-making authority to that body.
This usually happens when the Legislature wants the decision-making authority
to be partly in the hands of persons having direct knowledge of the subject
matter or to establish a balance of interests in the administration of a
program. For example, the executive agency involved with natural gas
drilling is the Office of Oil and Gas, with a chain of authority up to the
Governor. The Shallow Gas Well Review Board also has duties related to
gas drilling, but operates independently.
...in the Legislative Branch?
Few rule-making entities exist in the legislative branch since
the Legislature does most of its work through making law. However,
whenever the Legislature creates an ongoing working body such as the
Commission on Special Investigations, that body may need rules to handle
day-to-day operations issues.
...in the Judicial Branch?
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals does make rules, but
they are not subject to the Administrative Procedures Act and are not filed
with the Secretary of State. For information about the rules of the
Supreme Court which govern the practice of law, the magistrate courts, the circuit
courts of appeals, and any other part of the judicial branch, visit the
website of the West Virginia Supreme
Court of Appeals.
