ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 406
(By Senators Love, Dempsey, White, Ross, McKenzie, Sharpe, Hunter, Jenkins
and Rowe)
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[Passed March 13, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §61-11A-8 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to allowing victims of crime to be
notified by telephone when a specified defendant is released
from custody.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-11A-8 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11A. VICTIM PROTECTION ACT OF 1984.
§61-11A-8. Notification to victim of offenders's release,
placement, or escape from custody.
(a) At the time a criminal prosecution is commenced by the
filing of a complaint, if the complaint charges a person with
committing an offense described in subsection (e) of this section,
then in such case the prosecuting attorney is required to provide
notice, in writing or by telephone, to the victim or a family member that he or she may request that they be notified prior to or
at the time of any release of the accused from custody pending
judicial proceedings.
(b) If a person is convicted of an offense described in
subsection (e) of this section, the prosecuting attorney is
required to provide notice, in writing or by telephone, to the
victim or a family member that he or she may request that they be
notified prior to or at the time of sentencing if the convicted
person will be placed on work release, home confinement or
probation.
(c) If a person is convicted of an offense described in
subsection (e) of this section and is imprisoned in a state
correctional facility or confined in a county or regional jail, the
commissioner of corrections, the regional jail supervisor or the
sheriff, as the case may be, is required to provide notice, in
writing or by telephone, to the victim or a family member that he
or she may request that they be notified prior to or at the time
of:
(1) Releasing the convicted person from imprisonment in any
correctional facility;
(2) Releasing the convicted person from confinement in any
county or regional jail;
(3) Placing the convicted person in a halfway house or other
non-secure facility to complete his or her sentence; or
(4) Any escape by the convicted person from a state
correctional facility or a county or regional jail.
(d) The notice shall include instructions for the victim or
the victim's family member on how to request the notification.
(e) Offenses which are subject to the provisions of this
section are as follows:
(1) Murder;
(2) Aggravated robbery;
(3) Sexual assault in the first degree;
(4) Kidnapping;
(5) Arson;
(6) Any sexual offense against a minor; or
(7) Any violent crime against a person.
(f) The commissioner of corrections, a regional jail
supervisor, a sheriff or a prosecuting attorney who receives a
written request for notification shall provide notice
, in writing
or by telephone,
to the last known address or addresses or
telephone number or numbers provided by the victim or a member of
the victim's family, or in the case of a minor child, to the
custodial parent of the child, in accordance with the provisions of
this section. In case of escape, notification shall be by
telephone, if possible.
(g) If one or more family members request notification and if
the victim is an adult and is alive and competent, notification shall be sent to the victim, if possible, notwithstanding that the
victim did not request the notification.
(h) If notification by telephone to a victim is attempted,
notification is not complete unless it is given directly to the
person requesting notification and after that person's identity has
been verified. An attempted notification made to a voice mail or
another recording device or to another member of the household is
insufficient.
(i) For the purposes of this section, the following words
or
phrases defined in this subsection have the meanings ascribed to
them. These definitions are applicable unless a different meaning
clearly appears from the context.
(1)"Filing of a complaint" means the filing of a complaint in
accordance with the requirements of rules promulgated by the
supreme court of appeals or the provisions of this code.
(2)"Victim" means a victim of a crime listed in subsection (e)
of this section who is alive and competent.
(3) "Victim's family member" means a member of the family of
a victim of a crime listed in subsection (e) of this section who is
not alive and competent.