Using OVS

​​​​On April 1, 2014, the Online Voucher System (OVS) b​ecame mandatory for court appointed counsel.  If you are a court appointed attorney and have vouchers to submit to the agency for payment, they must be keyed in​to the OVS sy​stem. Once submitted electronically, the voucher will be processed for payment by Public Defender Services.  If you have any questions, please first refer to the legislative rules, then contact LeeAnn Doyle at Leeann.M.Doyle@wv.gov​ with any remaining questions. 

If you were appointed as a gua​rdian ad litem in a proceeding other than a child abuse and neglect proceeding, y​our compensation is not paid by PDS, but rather by the Supreme Court of Appeals pursuant to the provisions of Rules 21.01 through 21.06 and Rules 39.01 through 39.03 of the West Virginia Trial C​ourt Rules. Follow this link to find the forms used by the Supreme Court of Appeals for compensation of such services. 

Below you will find the forms you may need to submit along with your voucher​s. Click on the links and they will open into fillable forms which you may type in and save to your computer. Should you need an order, print the order, get the judge's signature/date and the raised seal on the order and attach the order to your voucher in OVS BEFORE you submit the voucher. Afterwards you will then go to the voucher in OVS, scroll down until you see the Document Library and upload the order in PDF format. ​

Keep in mind that Direct Expense vouchers are still submitted via paper voucher, and that that process has not changed. Direct Expen​se vouchers still need to be printed out, completed and the paper copy sent directly to PDS. 

Orders​

• Certification Order
  
• Order Exceeding Compensation Cap
  
• Order Exceeding Expenses Cap
  
• Order Extending 90 Days Period​
  
• ​Paralegal - Order Approving In-Court Services of a Paralegal
  
• Paralegal - Order Approving Reimbursement of Expense of Paralegal's In-Court Work
  ​
  

Forms

• Direct Expense Vo​​ucher  
  
• Direct Expense Voucher Che​cklist
  
• Paralegal fees cannot be billed by direct expense​.
  
• Social Worker C​ontract
  
• For contracted mitiga​tion services; can be used, revised, and ​amended as needed.
  

• Eligibility Affidavit F​orm
  

Social Worker/Paralegal Expenses

• Social Worker Fees: The fees related to retention of a social worker to do mitigation on behalf of your client will be treated as a “paralegal fee.” Accordingly, PDS will reimburse this expense at $20.00 per hour. You will need to provide a fully itemized invoice on letterhead. The invoice should detail the dates of service, time, and brief description of activity in the same form that attorney time and services are detailed. The identity of the social worker must be stated and a separate invoice must be prepared by each social worker. Because these services are treated as paralegal services, the time is an expense on the appointed attorney’s voucher and cannot be billed on a Direct Expense Voucher.
  

• Paralegal Fees: PDS will reimburse paralegal services at $20.00 per hour. In order to be reimbursed for paralegal time, you must provide a fully itemized invoice on letterhead. The invoice should detail the dates of service, time, and brief description of activity in the same form that attorney time and services are detailed. The identity of the p​aralegal must be stated and a separate invoice must be prepared by each paralegal. The paralegal, by statute, cannot bill for "in-court" time unless approved by the court. The maximum compensation for in-court paralegal services is $1,000.00. Paralegal time is an expense on the appointed attorney's voucher and cannot be billed on a Direct Expense Voucher.

Other Resources

• Voucher Tracking​ - VISTA​ System
  
• Online Voucher User Processing Guide Version 2.0
  
• How to use the OVS Document Library:​