WEST virginia legislature

2019 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 127

By Senator Trump

[Introduced January 9, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §62-12-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the duty of parole officers to perform such alcohol and drug testing of litigants as directed by the circuit and family courts.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 12. PROBATION AND PAROLE.

§62-12-6. Powers and duties of probation officers.

(a) Each probation officer shall:

(1) Investigate all cases which the court refers to the officer for investigation and shall report in writing on each case;

(2) Conduct a standardized risk and needs assessment, using the instrument adopted by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, for any probationer for whom an assessment has not been conducted either prior to placement on probation or by a specialized assessment officer. The results of all standardized risk and needs assessments are confidential;

(3) Supervise the probationer and enforce probation according to assessment and supervision standards adopted by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia;

(4) Furnish to each person released on probation under the officers supervision a written statement of the probationers conditions of probation together with a copy of the rules prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia;

(5) Stay informed concerning the conduct and condition of each probationer under the officers supervision and report on the conduct and condition of each probationer in writing as often as the court requires;

(6) Use all practicable and suitable methods to aid and encourage the probationer to improve his or her conduct and condition;

(7) Perform random drug and alcohol testing on probationers under his or her supervision as directed by the circuit court; and perform such other alcohol and drug testing of litigants as the circuit court or the family court may require, and report the results thereof to the court making the referral for testing;

(8) Maintain detailed work records; and

(9) Perform any other duties the court requires.

(b) The probation officer may, with or without an order or warrant, arrest any probationer as provided in section ten of this article, and arrest any person on supervised release when there is reasonable cause to believe that the person on supervised release has violated a condition of release. A person on supervised release who is arrested shall be brought before the court for a prompt and summary hearing.

(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary:

(1) Any probation officer appointed on or after July 1, 2002, may carry handguns in the course of the officer’s official duties after meeting specialized qualifications established by the Governor's Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Correction. The qualifications shall include the successful completion of handgun training, which is comparable to the handgun training provided to law-enforcement officers by the West Virginia State Police and includes a minimum of four hours of training in handgun safety.

(2) Probation officers may only carry handguns in the course of their official duties after meeting the specialized qualifications set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(3) Nothing in this subsection includes probation officers within the meaning of law-enforcement officers as defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code.

(d) The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia may adopt a standardized risk and needs assessment with risk cut-off scores for use by probation officers, taking into consideration the assessment instrument adopted by the Division of Corrections under subsection (h), section thirteen of this article and the responsibility of the Division of Justice and Community Services to evaluate the use of the standardized risk and needs assessment. The results of any standardized risk and needs assessment are confidential.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require parole officers to perform such alcohol and drug testing of litigants as directed by the circuit and family courts.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.