Published: July 09, 2007 10:22 pm      

No special session in mind this month, Manchin reports

Unless a major development suddenly appears on the political horizon, don’t expect Gov. Joe Manchin to keep lawmakers at their desks in July interims for a special legislative session.

For that matter, the governor isn’t about to rush into one item Republican lawmakers have been seeking action on — a Supreme Court ruling on undercover drug work.

“I can tell you for sure there’s not going to be one (session) in July,” communications director Lara Ramsburg stressed Monday.

Talk has generated in recent days about a possible session to deal with a Supreme Court ruling reversing the 2005 conviction of Eddie Mullens on a drug charge on grounds a police search abused his constitutional protection against an unreasonable search and seizure.

Back in the spring, House Republicans, some of them attorneys, called on Manchin to include in any special session agenda new legislation to soften the ruling by allowing circuit judges in all 55 counties to issue warrants that permit informants to buy drugs from dealers while wired for sound. Existing law allows such warrants to be issued only by judges in five circuits.

“We will deal with that when we feel comfortable that all our homework has been completed and we have an appropriate path to do down,” Ramsburg said.

Already, the governor has been engaged in talks with a number of stakeholders, attempting to arrive at the proper means of enabling law enforcement agencies to conduct drug investigations without violating anyone’s constitutional rights, she said.

“We will do this as soon as we can,” Ramsburg said.

“But we won’t rush it. We don’t want to do something that will be subjected to additional court challenges or simply that will be reversed later on.”

In its 3-2 decision in the Mullens case, the bench found that a warrant must be issued before an informant can be hooked to devices recording sound, video or both.

Echoing the complaints of many police officers, House Republicans contend the law needs to be chang-ed, since officers now must travel long distances to obtain such warrants. When the law was written, the GOP lawmakers explained, no one envisioned a drug problem so expansive that it has blanketed the entire state.

“It’s not a partisan issue,” Ramsburg emphasized.

“It’s an issue that no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, it’s important to you. We’re about to get with the leadership and share with them the information we have and also bring more of the people that deal with this on a daily basis to the table and continue those discussions so that we can move forward.”

As for special sessions, she said, the governor’s staff reviews appropriations needs well in advance of interims, in case a need arises that dictates an extraordinary session to dovetail with interims meetings. This month poses no such special money needs, she said.

“There’s not a need to do anything in July, unless something should change,” she said.

August likewise remains open, and again, a session would hinge on appropriations needs, not the push for new drug legislation.

“If it takes waiting to the regular session, we’ll wait to the regular session,” Ramsburg added.

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com