Bill Text: WV SB519 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating generally to Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-01 - To Government Organization [SB519 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2022-SB519-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2022 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 519
By Senators Blair (Mr.
President) and Baldwin
(By Request of the Executive)
[Introduced February 01, 2022; referred
to the Committee on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on
Finance]
A BILL to repeal §15A-8-1, §15A-8-2, and §15A-8-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §15A-3-2 and §15A-3-16 of said code, all relating to the repeal of the article governing the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board; abolishing the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board; eliminating the requirement that special revenue funds be used by the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board to pay indebtedness; and making other technical corrections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 3. Division of Corrections and rehabilitation.
§15A-3-2. Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation established.
(a) The Division of
Corrections and Rehabilitation is hereby established within the Department of Military
Affairs and Public Safety Homeland Security. The executive and
administrative head of the Division of Correction and Rehabilitation shall be
the commissioner appointed pursuant to §15A-3-3 of this code.
(b) Effective July 1, 2018, the Division of Corrections and the Division of Juvenile Services are hereby abolished. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the powers and authority of those divisions are hereby transferred to the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
(c) Effective July 1, 2018,
the powers and authority of the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
Authority Board, in relation to all functions of correctional operations, are
hereby transferred to the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Effective
with the amendments enacted during the 2022 Regular Session of the West
Virginia Legislature, The the Regional Jail and Correctional
Facility Authority Board shall only retain the powers authorized in §15A-8-1
et seq. of this code is hereby abolished.
(d) Whenever in this code a
reference is made to the Division of Corrections, it shall be construed to mean
the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Wherever in this code a
reference is made to the Division of Juvenile Services, it shall be construed
to mean the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Whenever in this code
reference is made to the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority
Board in relation to operations of any of the regional jails, it shall
be construed to mean the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
(e) Any person employed by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation who on the effective date of this article is a classified service employee shall, within the limits contained in §29-6-1 et seq. of this code, remain in the classified service system as a covered employee.
(f) Where reference in this article is made to the “division”, it shall mean the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
§15A-3-16. Funds for operations of jails under the jurisdiction of the commissioner.
(a) Any special revenue funds previously administered by the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority or its executive director are continued, and shall be administered by the commissioner.
(b) Funds that have been
transferred by §15A-3-16(a) of this code shall be limited in use to operations
of jail functions, and for payment to the Regional Jail and Correctional
Facility Authority Board, for payment of indebtedness, and renovation
and maintenance for Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation jails. In no
case shall a fund be utilized to offset or pay operations of nonjail parts of
the facility: Provided, That funds may be utilized on a pro rata basis
for shared staff and for operational expenses of facilities being used as both
prisons and jails.
(c) Whenever the commissioner determines that the balance in these funds is more than the immediate requirements of this article, he or she may request that the excess be invested until needed. Any excess funds so requested shall be invested in a manner consistent with the investment of temporary state funds. Interest earned on any moneys invested pursuant to this section shall be credited to these funds.
(d) These funds consist of the following:
(1) Moneys collected and deposited in the State Treasury which are specifically designated by Acts of the Legislature for inclusion in these funds;
(2) Contributions, grants, and gifts from any source, both public and private, specifically directed to the operations of jails under the control of the commissioner;
(3) All sums paid pursuant to §15A-3-16(g) of this code; and
(4) All interest earned on investments made by the state from moneys deposited in these funds.
(e) The amounts deposited in these funds shall be accounted for and expended in the following manner:
(1) Amounts deposited shall be pledged first to the debt service on any bonded indebtedness;
(2) After any requirements of debt service have been satisfied, the commissioner shall requisition from these funds the amounts that are necessary to provide for payment of the administrative expenses of this article, as limited by this section;
(3) The commissioner shall requisition from these funds, after any requirements of debt service have been satisfied, the amounts that are necessary for the maintenance and operation of jails under his or her control. These funds shall make an accounting of all amounts received from each county by virtue of any filing fees, court costs, or fines required by law to be deposited in these funds and amounts from the jail improvement funds of the various counties;
(4) Notwithstanding any
other provisions of this article, sums paid into these funds by each county
pursuant to §15A-3-16(g) of this code for each inmate shall be placed in a
separate account and shall be requisitioned from these funds to pay for costs
incurred; and
(5) Any amounts deposited in these funds from other sources permitted by this article shall be expended based on particular needs to be determined by the commissioner; and
(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, any funds deposited in the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Fund shall be used by the commissioner solely for the maintenance and renovation of Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation jails: Provided, That funds may be utilized on a pro rata basis for shared staff and for operational expenses of facilities being used as both prisons and jails.
(f)(1) After a jail facility becomes available pursuant to this article for the incarceration of inmates, each county within the region shall incarcerate all persons whom the county would have incarcerated in any jail prior to the availability of the jail facility in the jail facility, except those whose incarceration in a local jail facility used as a local holding facility is specified as appropriate under the previously promulgated, and hereby transferred standards and procedures developed by the Jail Facilities Standards Commission, and whom the sheriff or the circuit court elects to incarcerate therein.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of §15A-3-16(f)(1) of this code, circuit and magistrate courts are authorized to:
(A) Detain persons who have been arrested or charged with a crime in a county or municipal jail specified as appropriate under the standards and procedures referenced in §15A-3-16(f)(1) of this code, for a period not to exceed 96 hours; or
(B) Commit persons convicted of a crime in a county or municipal jail, specified as appropriate under the standards and procedures referenced in §15A-3-16(f)(1) of this code, for a period not to exceed 14 days.
(g) When inmates are placed in a jail facility under the jurisdiction of the commissioner pursuant to §15A-3-16(f) of this code, the county, and municipality if the incarceration is a municipal violation, shall pay into this fund a cost per day for each incarcerated inmate, to be determined by the state Budget Office annually by examining the most recent three fiscal years of costs submitted by the commissioner for the cost of operating the jail facilities and units under his or her jurisdiction, and taking an average per day, per inmate cost of maintaining the operations of the jail facilities or units: Provided, That beginning July 1, 2018, and continuing through July 1, 2022, in no case shall any county or municipality be required to pay a rate that exceeds $48.25 per day, per inmate. Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that the per diem cannot be decreased or be less than $48.25 per day per inmate.
(h) The per diem costs for incarcerating inmates may not include the cost of construction, acquisition, or renovation of the regional jail facilities: Provided, That each jail facility or unit operating in this state shall keep a record of the date and time that an inmate is incarcerated, and a county may not be charged for a second day of incarceration for an individual inmate until that inmate has remained incarcerated for more than 24 hours. After that, in cases of continuous incarceration, subsequent per diem charges shall be made upon a county only as subsequent intervals of 24 hours pass from the original time of incarceration.
(i) The county is responsible for costs incurred by the division for housing and maintaining inmates in its facilities who are pretrial inmates and convicted misdemeanants. The costs of housing shall be borne by the division on a felony conviction on which an inmate is incarcerated beginning the calendar day following the day of sentencing: Provided, That beginning July 1, 2019, the costs of housing shall be borne by the division on a felony conviction when an inmate is incarcerated beginning the calendar day following the day of conviction. In no case shall the county be responsible for any costs of housing and maintaining felony convicted inmate populations.
(j) The county is responsible for the costs incurred by the authority for housing and maintaining an inmate who, prior to a felony conviction on which the inmate is incarcerated and is awaiting transportation to a state correctional facility for a 60-day evaluation period as provided in §62-12-7a of this code.
(k) On or before July 1, 2020, the commissioner shall prepare a report on the feasibility of phasing out the county and municipal per diem charges required by §15A-3-16(g) of this code. This report shall include information regarding savings realized because of the consolidation of the former Division of Corrections, Division of Juvenile Services, and the operations of the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, as well as any other recommendations that might ease the burden of paying the per diem inmate costs by the counties or municipalities. On or before January 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2021, the commissioner shall report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance and the co-chairmen of the Joint Standing Committee on Finance the actual per diem rate as calculated pursuant to §15A-3-16(g) of this code and any amount not assessed to counties if the actual per diem cost is larger than the amount charged to the counties or municipalities pursuant to §15A-3-16(g) between July 1, 2018, and July 1, 2021.
ARTICLE 8. Regional Jail and Correctional FACILITY Authority Board.
§15A-8-1. Powers and authority of the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board; continuation of the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board; payment of bonds; appeal of per diem rate.
[Repealed]
§15A-8-2. West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board; composition; appointment; terms; compensation and expenses.
[Repealed]
§15A-8-3. Governing body; organization and meetings; quorum; administrative expenses.
[Repealed]
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
