Senate Bill No. 180

(By Senators Kimble and Deem)

____________

[Introduced January 25, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
____________




A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring able-bodied inmates at state penal institutions to work toward their upkeep and to offset the cost of their incarceration.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5. THE PENITENTIARY.

§28-5-2. Control of penitentiary by commissioner of public

institutions; program for mandatory work by prisoners to offset cost of incarceration.

The commissioner of public institutions shall have general control of the penitentiary, and shall direct all needed improvements and repairs and all manufacturing operations carried on therein, and shall make such rules and regulations as the commissioner may deem best as to the treatment of the convicts, their discipline, punishment, diet, clothing, social intercourse, the kind and amount of labor required each day, the trades and mechanic arts to be taught, the manner and duration of solitary confinement and other punishments, and the conditions when and on which persons may visit the interior of the building. Provided, That, the commissioner shall develop and implement a program that requires all able-bodied prisoners to perform useful labor toward the maintenance of the correctional institution or that involves other work-related activities which tend to offset the costs of incarceration at the correctional institution. The commissioner's program shall be administered by the several wardens of the various penal institutions within the state. The commissioner shall develop and implement such program by no later than the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five. Printed rules prescribed by the commissioner for the preservation of the property belonging to the state and used at the penitentiary, and for the government and punishment of convicts shall be kept posted in at least six conspicuous places inside the prison.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the commissioner of corrections to develop and implement a program requiring able-bodied inmates to work toward their upkeep at the particular institution where such inmates are located. The bill requires the various wardens to administer the mandatory work program.

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