§23-1-1c Payment withholding; interception; penalty.
§23-1-1c. Payment withholding; interception; penalty.
(a) All state, county, district and municipal officers and agents making contracts on behalf of the State of West Virginia or any political subdivision thereof shall withhold payment in the final settlement of contracts until the receipt of a certificate from the commission or the company created in article two-c of this chapter to the effect that all payments, interest and penalties thereon accrued against the contractor under this chapter as of the termination of the commission have been paid or that provisions satisfactory to the commission or company created in article two-c of this chapter have been made for payment. Any official violating this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in the county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(b) Any agency of the state, for the limited purpose of intercepting, pursuant to section five-a, article two of this chapter, any payment by or through the state to an employer who is in default in payment of contributions, premiums, deposits, interest or penalties under the provisions of this chapter, shall assist the commission or company created in article two-c of this chapter in collecting the payment that is due under subsection (a) of this section. For this purpose, disclosure of joint delinquency and default lists of employers with respect to unemployment compensation as provided in section six-c, article one, chapter twenty-one-a of this code and Workers' Compensation contributions, premiums, interest, deposits or penalties is authorized. The commission and the bureau of employment programs may enter into an interagency agreement to effect the provisions of this section. The lists may be in the form of a computerized database to be accessed by the auditor, the Department of Tax and Revenue, the Department of Administration, the Division of Highways or other appropriate state agency or officer.