# Witnesses; testimony; subpoena **Citation:** W. Va. Code ยง 24B-4-4 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** West Virginia Legislature **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** Not stated The commission shall, either as a commission or by any of its members, or by designated employees, subpoena witnesses, take testimony, administer oaths to any witness in any proceeding or examination instituted before or conducted by it with reference to any matter within its jurisdiction hereunder. In all hearings or ## Document text The commission shall, either as a commission or by any of its members, or by designated employees, subpoena witnesses, take testimony, administer oaths to any witness in any proceeding or examination instituted before or conducted by it with reference to any matter within its jurisdiction hereunder. In all hearings or proceedings before the commission or its designated employees, the evidence of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence may be required at any designated place of hearing within the state; and in the case of disobedience to a subpoena or other process, the commission or any party to the proceedings before the commission may invoke the aid of any circuit court in the state in requiring the evidence and testimony of witnesses and the production of papers, books, and documents. And such court, in case of refusal to obey this subpoena issued to any person or other witness, shall issue an order requiring such person or other witness to appear before the commission or designated employees and produce books and papers, if so ordered, and give evidence touching the matter in question. Any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as contempt thereof. A claim that such testimonial evidence may intend to incriminate the witness giving the same shall not excuse any witness from testifying, but such witness shall not be prosecuted for any offense concerning which he is compelled hereunder to testify. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `wv-pipeline-safety` - SHA-256: `e70bf2428113e9b192ca17ee799edf9b72df40d8d036cfb239169c1af2805906` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T12:04:38.773Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T23:40:29.344Z - Document slug: `wv-code-24b-4-4` ### Source metadata ```json { "jurisdiction": "US-WV", "legalLayer": "statute", "pipelineScope": "intrastate-gas-and-hazardous-liquid-with-separate-phmsa-certifications", "exactScope": "This corpus contains the complete current text of the two directly applicable pipeline-safety sections of active 150 CSR 4 (sections 9 and 11) and all 21 current sections of West Virginia Code Chapter 24B. The Secretary of State active rule record and Legislature Chapter 24B publication are the completeness boundaries.", "applicabilityCaveat": "The PSC program covers intrastate natural-gas distribution and transmission, covered LPG systems, certain regulated gathering lines, and intrastate hazardous-liquid transmission under separate 49 U.S.C. 60105 certifications. PHMSA's 2024 gas and hazardous-liquid evaluations each identify the West Virginia PSC as 60105(a) certified and as an interstate agent. Interstate-agent work is federal assistance, not independent state jurisdiction; the PSC states that interstate gas and hazardous-liquid pipelines remain regulated by PHMSA. Facility, commodity, gathering-line, rural-production, storage, and interstate status must be resolved before applying any provision.", "incorporationCaveat": "150 CSR 4 sections 9.3.1 and 11.3.1 adopt 49 CFR Parts 191, 192, 195, and 199 without naming an edition. This connector records those dynamic references but does not reproduce federal text, determine the effect of later federal amendments, or infer adoption of an unlisted federal part.", "publicationCaveat": "The Secretary of State identifies the July 11, 2018 version of 150 CSR 4 as active and prior versions as historical. The active rule still states superseded section 9.10 penalty limits of $1,000 per violation and $200,000 per related series; current W. Va. Code section 24B-4-6 instead states up to $200,000 per violation per day and $2 million per related series. Users must reconcile the current statute, later orders, and federal law rather than relying on the stale rule figures. Retrieval dates are observations, not legal effective dates.", "excludedScope": "150 CSR 4 utility-service, rates, metering, customer relations, gas quality, engineering, testing, promotional-practice, and tariff provisions are not made searchable except where sections 9 and 11 directly govern pipeline safety. Sections 5, 6, and 8 are inventoried as adjacent utility engineering, inspection, and odorization material. Chapter 24C damage prevention is adjacent and not reproduced as a direct pipeline-operator corpus. Dockets, orders, forms, operator lists, incident records, siting, routing, economic regulation, environmental requirements, local law, federal text, and private standards are excluded.", "rights": "Official West Virginia and federal-government artifacts are archived with attribution and SHA-256 provenance. Public availability does not resolve rights in site presentation, agency marks, forms, maps, photographs, or incorporated material; downstream redistribution requires separate review.", "rightsReviewRequired": true, "certificationStatus": { "intrastateGas": "49 U.S.C. 60105(a) certified", "intrastateHazardousLiquid": "49 U.S.C. 60105(a) certified", "interstateGas": "PHMSA; WVPSC acts only as federal interstate agent", "interstateHazardousLiquid": "PHMSA; WVPSC acts only as federal interstate agent" }, "federalIncorporation": null, "incorporatedFederalParts": [], "references": [], "phmsaEvidenceUrls": [ "https://primis-uat.phmsa.dot.gov/stakeholder-comms/states/west%20virginia/", "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-03/wv-2024-gas-program-evaluation.pdf", "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-03/wv-2024-hazardous-liquid-program-evaluation.pdf" ], "originSourceId": "wv-legislature-chapter-24b", "region": "WV" } ```