Senate Bill No. 351
(By Senator Sprouse)
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[Introduced March 17, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finace.]
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A BILL to amend article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-one, relating to allowing circuit courts to order
reimbursement of costs of imprisonment at the rate of fifty
dollars a day for a state correctional facility and thirty- five dollars a day for a regional or county correctional
facility.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-one, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. THE PENITENTIARY.
§28-5-41. Order of reimbursement for costs of imprisonment; criteria; judgment; and report by commissioner.
(a) Whenever a judge of a circuit court of this state at
final disposition determines to sentence a convicted offender to
the custody of the commissioner of corrections for service of a
sentence of imprisonment, the court, in addition to any penalties
and costs assessable against the offender provided by this code,
may direct that the offender make reimbursement to the state of
West Virginia towards the cost of his or her imprisonment.
(b) Reimbursement shall be determined by the nature of the
facility in which the convicted offender is sentenced. For
incarceration in a state correctional facility, the imprisoned
offender shall be required to make reimbursement toward the costs
of imprisonment in the amount of fifty dollars a day, for each
day of imprisonment. For incarceration in a regional or county
correctional facility, the imprisoned offender shall be required
to make reimbursement toward the costs of imprisonment in the
amount of thirty-five dollars a day, for each day of
imprisonment.
NOTE: This bill would allow a court to order convicts to pay
the cost of their imprisonment based upon the type of facility
housing the convict.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and under
scoring have been omitted.