(a) The clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission shall transmit a copy of the application to the claim investigator within seven days after the filing of the application.
(b) The claim investigator, upon receipt of an application for an award of compensation from the clerk of the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, shall investigate the claim. After completing the investigation, the claim investigator shall make a written finding of fact and recommendation concerning an award of compensation. He or she shall file with the clerk the finding of fact and recommendation and all information or documents that he or she used in his or her investigation: Provided, That the claim investigator shall not file information or documents which have been the subject of a protective order entered under the provisions of subsection (c) of this section.
(c) The claim investigator, while investigating the claim, may require the claimant to supplement the application for an award of compensation with any further information or documentary materials, including any medical report readily available, which may lead to any relevant facts aiding in the determination of whether, and the extent to which, a claimant qualifies for an award of compensation.
The claim investigator, while investigating the claim, may also require law-enforcement officers and prosecuting attorneys employed by the state or any political subdivision thereof, to provide him or her with reports, information, witness statements or other data gathered in the investigation of the criminally injurious conduct that is the basis of any claim to enable him or her to determine whether, and the extent to which, a claimant qualifies for an award of compensation. The prosecuting attorney and any officer or employee of the prosecuting attorney or of the law-enforcement agency shall be immune from any civil liability that might otherwise be incurred as the result of providing such reports, information, witness statements or other data relating to the criminally injurious conduct to the claim investigator.
The claim investigator, while investigating the claim, may obtain autopsy reports including results from the Office of the State Medical Examiner to be used solely for determining eligibility for compensation awards.
Upon motion of any party, court or agency from whom such reports, information, witness statements or other data is sought, and for good cause shown, the court may make any order which justice requires to protect a witness or other person, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) That the reports, information, witness statements or other data not be made available; (2) that the reports, information, witness statements or other data may be made available only on specified terms and conditions, including a designation of time and place; (3) that the reports, information, witness statements or other data be made available only by a different method than that selected by the claim investigator; (4) that certain matters not be inquired into, or that the scope of the claim investigator’s request be limited to certain matters; (5) that the reports, information, witness statements or other data be examined only by certain persons designated by the court; (6) that the reports, information, witness statements or other data, after being sealed, be opened only by order of the court; and (7) that confidential information or the identity of confidential witnesses or informers not be disclosed, or disclosed only in a designated manner.
However, in any case wherein the claim investigator has reason to believe that his or her investigation may interfere with or jeopardize the investigation of a crime by law-enforcement officers, or the prosecution of a case by prosecuting attorneys, he or she shall apply to the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, or a commissioner thereof, for an order granting leave to discontinue his or her investigation for a reasonable time in order to avoid such interference or jeopardization. When it appears to the satisfaction of the commission, or commissioner, upon application by the claim investigator or in its own discretion, that the investigation of a case by the claim investigator will interfere with or jeopardize the investigation or prosecution of a crime, the commission, or commissioner, shall issue an order granting the claim investigator leave to discontinue his or her investigation for such time as the commission, or commissioner, deems reasonable to avoid such interference or jeopardization.
(d) The finding of fact that is issued by the claim investigator pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall contain the following:
(1) Whether the criminally injurious conduct that is the basis for the application did occur, the date on which the conduct occurred and the exact nature of the conduct;