W. Va. Code § 28-5-33

When a person is confined in the penitentiary of this or any other state, or of the United States, under sentence for one year or more, or to suffer death, the estate of such convict in this state, if he have any, both real and personal, shall, on the motion of any party interested, be committed by the county commission of the county in which his estate or some part thereof may be, to a person selected by such county commission, who, after giving bond before the county commission in such penalty as it may prescribe, shall have charge and management of such estate until the convict is discharged from confinement or dies; and upon such motion the county commission shall appoint said committee, although the convict has no estate, either real or personal, located in this state. In the event said convict has no such estate, or his estate does not exceed $1,000, reference to a fiduciary commissioner shall not be necessary. All appointments of committees heretofore made and decrees or judgments heretofore awarded by any court of record in this state against or on behalf of any convict shall not be considered invalid for the reason that the convict had no such estate at the time of the appointment of such committee.