Senate Bill No. 645
(By Senator Love, By Request)
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[Introduced February 19, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §7-3-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to authorizing counties to form a
multicounty regional metro government expressly to take over
the operation of a regional jail facility.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-3-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. COUNTY PROPERTY.
§7-3-2. Courthouse, jail and offices; option to form multicounty
regional metro government for operation of a regional
jail.
The county commission of every county, at the expense of the
county, shall provide at the county seat thereof a suitable
courthouse and jail, together with suitable offices for the judge
of the circuit court and judges of courts of limited jurisdiction,
clerks of circuit courts, courts of limited jurisdiction and of the
county commission, assessor, sheriff, prosecuting attorney, county superintendent of schools, and surveyor, and all other offices as
are or may be required by law:
Provided, That the courthouse,
including any annex or other facility housing the courts and
offices herein set out (excepting all facilities that are on a
twenty-four-hour basis), shall be open to the public Monday through
Friday during the hours prescribed by the county commission by an
order duly recorded in the order book of the commission. The
county commission in such order may, in its discretion, provide
that the courthouse, including any annex or other facility housing
the courts and offices herein set out, be open on Saturday and
prescribe the hours during which it shall be open. In no case may
the county commission provide that the courthouse, including any
annex or other facility housing the courts and offices herein set
out, be open for business on Sundays or national or state holidays:
Provided, however, That the county commission of every county
having a population in excess of two hundred thousand may provide
at the county seat or elsewhere in the county, as the county
commission shall determine, a suitable jail or jails:
Provided
further, That the county commission of any county, regardless of
population, may, as provided in article twenty-three, chapter eight
of the code of West Virginia, contract with the county commissions
of one or more other counties within this state for the erection,
construction, equipment, leasing and renting of a regional
correctional center for either adult or youth offenders, at a
location mutually agreeable to the contracting parties and not
necessarily at the county seat, which will serve each county entering into the contract. The county commission shall keep the
courthouse, jail and other offices in constant and adequate repair,
and supplied with the necessary heat, light, furniture, record
books, and janitor service, and, except as to the office for the
judge of the circuit court, with the necessary stationery and
postage, and other things as shall be necessary; but all of the
public records, books and papers belonging or appertaining to the
county surveyor's office shall be delivered to the clerk of the
county commission and retained by him in his official possession
and under his control and shall constitute a part of the public
records, books and papers of his office. All courthouses, jails
and offices hereafter erected shall be built of stone and brick, or
stone or brick, or other equally fireproof materials, and the
offices shall be fireproof or be furnished with fireproof vaults or
safes. The jails shall be well secured, and sufficient for the
convenient accommodation of those who may be confined therein. The
county commission may also provide other necessary offices and
buildings, and may, by purchase or otherwise, acquire as much land
as may be requisite or desirable for county purposes, and may
suitably enclose, improve and embellish the lands so acquired.
Subject to the conditions hereinabove set forth with respect
to the site of the courthouse, jail, and other offices, the
commission may, from time to time, as may seem to it proper,
provide, at the expense of the county, a new or other building or
buildings to be used for the courthouse and jail, or for either,
together with suitable offices, as aforesaid, and for that purpose may acquire, by purchase or otherwise, and hold any lands, or lands
and buildings, which may be necessary, and may enclose, improve and
embellish the same. When any new or other building or buildings
shall be ready for occupancy, the county commission shall make an
order declaring that, on a day to be therein named, the new or
other building or buildings shall become the courthouse, or jail,
or both the courthouse and jail of the county, and shall cause
copies of the order to be posted at the front door of the new as
well as of the old courthouse, at least twenty days before the day
named in the order; and on and after the day named the new or other
building or buildings shall become, respectively, the courthouse,
or jail, or both the courthouse and jail of the county in all
respects and for all purposes. After the change shall have been
made the county commission may sell or otherwise dispose of, as may
seem to it proper, the building or buildings previously used as a
courthouse and jail, or either, and the land on which they are, or
either is, situated, and of the interest of the county therein.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, any county commission providing and maintaining a jail on
the effective date of this article shall not be required to provide
and maintain a jail after a regional jail becomes available
pursuant to the provisions of article twenty, chapter thirty-one of
this code, unless the county commission determines that such a
facility is necessary:
Provided, That such county commission may
provide and maintain a holding facility which complies with the
standards set forth for such holding facilities in legislative rules promulgated by the jail and correctional facility standards
commission or its predecessor, the jail and prison standards
commission.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary,
counties served by any particular regional jail facility are hereby
granted the option to form a multicounty regional metro government
for the express purpose of taking over the operation and management
of a particular regional jail facility from which the counties are
served. In order to exercise the option, each county served by the
regional jail in a particular region must exercise the option by
majority vote of the county commission and thereafter must enter
into a multicounty regional metro government agreement that
provides for every phase of operation and maintenance of the
subject facility. Any multicounty regional metro governmental
agreement reached under the provisions of this subsection must
include express provisions requiring that existing Regional Jail
Authority employees at a subject facility be given the option to
continue employment at the facility in the same or similar position
of employment they were in immediately before transition to
multicounty regional metro governmental control and upon the same
terms and conditions of employment as provided under the authority
of the Regional Jail Authority. The agreement must also include
express provisions designating each county's annual fiscal
responsibility and commitment to employees' salaries, security
needs, maintenance needs and renovation needs. Upon each county in
a region unanimously exercising the option provided herein, the Regional Jail Authority shall cease to exercise authority over the
subject regional jail facility while assisting the multicounty
regional metro governmental entity in the transitional phase
required for the multicounty regional metro governmental entity to
exercise control over a particular regional jail facility:
Provided, That those employees employed by the Regional Jail
Authority at a particular regional jail facility at the time of
transition shall be given the option of remaining employed at the
facility in the same or similar positions as they were employed by
the Regional Jail Authority, but shall be subject to the authority
of the multicounty regional metro government upon the same terms
and conditions of employment as previously provided by the Regional
Jail Authority.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize counties to
form a multicounty regional metro government expressly to take over
the operation of a regional jail facility.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.