WEST virginia
legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
A BILL to amend and
reenact §49-4-720 and §49-4-722 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
all relating to requiring the Division of Juvenile Services to transfer to a
correctional facility or regional jail any juvenile in its custody that has
been transferred to adult jurisdiction of the circuit court and who reaches his
or her eighteenth birthday; requiring transfer of juvenile in adult
jurisdiction upon reaching eighteen years of age if he or she has either been
convicted or is in a pretrial status; directing the Division of Juvenile
Services to notify the circuit court of a juvenile reaching the age of eighteen
years of age; authorizing the circuit court to conduct a hearing as to
alternative placement; mandating that the position of victim be taken under
consideration by the court in considering disposition or alternative placement;
prohibiting juveniles that commit an adult offense while under the custody of
the Division of Juvenile Services from returning back to the placement in a
juvenile facility if the juvenile has attained the age of eighteen years; and
requiring the court to conduct a hearing as to placement of a juvenile that has
turned eighteen years of age and is remanded back to the custody of the
Division of Juvenile Services after completion of an adult sentence.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §49-4-720 and
§49-4-722 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE
4. court actions.
§49-4-720. Prohibition
on committing juveniles to adult facilities. copy provided to juvenile
(a) No juvenile, including
one who has been transferred to criminal jurisdiction of the court, shall
may be detained or confined in any institution in which he or she has
contact with or comes within sight or sound of any adult persons incarcerated
because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal
charges or with the security staff (including management) or direct-care staff
of a jail or locked facility for adults.
(b) No
child who has been convicted of an offense under the adult jurisdiction of the
circuit court shall may be held in custody in a correctional
facility of this state while under the age of eighteen years. The
Division of Juvenile Services shall be responsible for notifying notify
the sentencing court within forty-five days of the child's eighteenth birthday
that the child will be turning eighteen years of age. Within ten days of the
child's Upon the child
reaching his or her eighteenth birthday, the court shall transfer the
offender to an adult correctional facility or to any other disposition the
court deems considers appropriate for adult offenders. Notwithstanding
any other provision of this code to the contrary, prior to the transfer the
child shall be returned to the sentencing court for the purpose of reconsideration
and modification of the imposed sentence, which shall be based upon a review of
all records and relevant information relating to the child's rehabilitation
since his or her conviction under the adult jurisdiction of the court. The sentencing court, on motion of any
party or its own, may conduct a hearing to determine whether the child that has
been transferred to adult jurisdiction and turned eighteen years of age shall
remain in the adult correctional facility or regional jail or if another disposition
or pretrial placement available to adult offenders is appropriate and
available: Provided, That the court
may not remand a child having reached the age of eighteen years to a juvenile
facility or placement with other juveniles.
(c) In
any hearing conducted by the court under this section, the victim, if any, of
the offender’s convicted or charged crime shall be invited to attend the
hearing and the victim’s position shall be given due consideration by the court
in deciding to continue placement in an adult facility or any other alternative
disposition or pretrial placement. The court may accept the position of the
victim from a victim’s designee if the victim is deceased, lacks capacity, a
minor or for any other reason considered appropriate or warranted by the court.
§49-4-722. Conviction for offense while in custody.
(a) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law to the contrary, any person who is eighteen years of age
or older who is convicted as an adult of an offense that he or she committed
while in the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services and who is therefore
sentenced to a regional jail or state correctional facility for the offense may
not be returned to the custody of the division upon the completion of his or
her adult sentence. until a hearing is held before the court which committed
the person to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services at which hearing
the division may present any objections it may have to return the person to its
custody. If the division does object and the court overrules the division's
objections, it shall make specific written findings as to its rationale for
overruling the objections.
(b) No person who is
eighteen years of age or older who is convicted as an adult of a felony crime
of violence against the person while in the custody of the Division of Juvenile
Services be returned to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services upon
completion of his or her adult sentence Prior to completion of the adult
sentence specified in subsection (a), the circuit court having jurisdiction
over the underlying juvenile matter shall conduct a hearing to determine
whether the child that has turned eighteen years of age shall remain in the
regional jail during pendency of the underlying juvenile matter or if another
disposition or pretrial placement is appropriate and available: Provided, That the court may not remand a
child having reached the age of eighteen years to a juvenile facility or
placement during the pendency of the underlying juvenile matter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to require the Division of Juvenile Services to transfer to a correctional
facility or regional jail any juvenile in its custody that has been transferred
to adult jurisdiction of the circuit court and who reaches his or her
eighteenth birthday. The bill requires
transfer of juvenile in adult jurisdiction upon reaching eighteen years of age
if he or she has either been convicted or is in a pretrial status and directs
the Division of Juvenile Services to notify the circuit court of the age of a
juvenile reaching the age of eighteen years of age. The bill authorizes the circuit court to
conduct a hearing as to alternative placement and mandates that the position of
victim be taken under consideration by the court in determining disposition or
alternative placement. The bill
prohibits juveniles that commit an adult offense while under the custody of the
Division of Juvenile Services from returning back to the placement in a juvenile
facility if the juvenile has attained the age of eighteen years. Finally, the bill requires the court to
conduct a hearing as to placement of a juvenile that has turned eighteen years
of age and is remanded back to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services
after completion of an adult sentence.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.