No other provision in the West Virginia Code authorizes sheriff's department to sue or be sued. See Kowalyk v. Hancock Cnty., Civ. Action No. 5:08CV181, 2009 WL 981848 at *2 (N.D. W. Va. Apr. 9, 2009). The Fourth Circuit has recognized that "in the realm of county law enforcement," it is the "sheriff [who] is the duly delegated policy maker for the county."
In West Virginia, it is the county commission that is authorized to sue or be sued.") (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Kowalyk v. Hancock Cnty., CIV.A. 5:08CV181, 2009 WL 981848, at *2 (N.D. W. Va. Apr. 9, 2009) (dismissing "Hancock County Office of the Sheriff as not a properly-named party in complaint asserting claims under section 1983 and state law); Rankin v. Berkeley Cnty. Sheriff's Dep't, 222 F. Supp. 2d 802, 807 (N.D. W. Va. 2002) (dismissing section 1983 claim against Berkeley County Sheriff's Department because the department was not a separate cognizable legal entity); cf. Haney v. Cnty. Comm'n, Preston Cnty., 575 S.E.2d 434, 437 (W. Va. 2002)
The Office of the Sheriff of Greenbrier County "has no status independent of the Sheriff in his official capacity which would permit that office to be sued." Kowalyk v. Hancock County, Civil Action No.5:08CV181, 2009 WL 981848, *2 (N. D. W. Va. Apr. 9, 2009). In West Virginia, it is the county commission that is authorized to sue or be sued.