Senate Bill No. 585

(By Senator Unger)

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[Introduced February 21, 2000; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to good conduct credit for inmates; and changing the method of awarding "good time" to prisoners based upon the previous procedure of good conduct and days per month according to the length of sentence.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, 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. STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.
§28-5-27. Deduction from sentence for good conduct.

(a) All adult inmates now in the custody of the commissioner of corrections, or hereafter committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections, except those committed pursuant to article four, chapter twenty-five of this code shall be granted commutation from their sentences for compliance with the rules for good conduct in accordance with this section.
(b) Such The commutation of sentence, hereinafter called "good time," shall be deducted from the maximum term of indeterminate sentences or from the fixed term of determinate sentences.
(c) Each inmate committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections and incarcerated in a penal facility pursuant to such commitment shall be granted a deduction of sentence for faithful compliance with all the disciplinary rules as follows: (1) Upon a sentence of one year, five days from each month, (2) upon a sentence of more than one year, and less than three years, six days from each month, (3) upon a sentence of not less than three years, and less than five years, seven days from each month, (4) upon a sentence of not less than five years, and less than ten years, eight days from each month, and (5) upon a sentence of ten years or more, ten day s from each month one day good time for each day he or she is incarcerated, including any and all days in jail awaiting sentence and which is credited by the sentencing court to his or her sentence pursuant to section twenty-four, article eleven, chapter sixty-one of this code or for any other reason relating to such the commitment. No inmate may be granted any good time for time served either on parole or bond or in any other status where by he or she is not physically incarcerated.
(d) No inmate sentenced to serve a life sentence shall be is eligible to earn or receive any good time pursuant to this section.
(e) An inmate under two or more consecutive sentences shall be allowed good time as if the several sentences, when the maximum terms thereof are added together, were all one sentence.
(f) The commissioner of corrections shall promulgate separate disciplinary rules for each institution under his control in which adult felons are incarcerated, which rules shall describe acts which inmates are prohibited from committing, procedures for charging individual inmates for violation of such the rules and for determining the guilt or innocence of inmates charged with such violations and the sanctions which may be imposed for such violations. A copy of such the rules shall be given to each inmate. For each such of these violations, by an inmate so sanctioned, any part or all of the good time which has been granted to such the inmate pursuant to this section may be forfeited and revoked by the warden or superintendent of the institution in which the violation occurred. The warden or superintendent, when appropriate and with approval of the commissioner, may restore any good time so forfeited.
(g) Each inmate, upon his or her commitment to and being received into the custody of the commissioner of the department of corrections, or upon his return to custody as the result of violation of parole pursuant to section nineteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code, shall be given a statement setting forth the term or length of his or her sentence or sentences and the time of his minimum discharge computed according to this section.
(h) Each inmate shall be given a revision of the statement described in subsection (g) above if and when any part or all of the good time has been forfeited and revoked or restored pursuant to subsection (f) of this section whereby the time of his or her earliest discharge is changed.
(i) The commissioner of corrections may, with the approval of the governor, allow extra good time for inmates who perform exceptional work or service.
(j) In order to ensure equitable good time for all inmates now in the custody of the commissioner of corrections or hereafter committed to the custody of such the commissioner, except as to those persons committed pursuant to article four, chapter twenty- five of this code, all good times shall be computed according to this section and all previous computations of good time under prior statutes or regulations are hereby voided. All inmates who have previously forfeited good time are hereby restored to good time computed according to this section and all inmates will receive a new discharge date computed according to this section. All inmates that have been awarded overtime good time or extra good time pursuant to sections twenty-seven-a and twenty-seven-b of this article which are repealed simultaneously with the amendment to this section during the regular session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred eighty-four, shall receive such good time in addition to the good time computed according to this section.
(k) There shall may be no grants or accumulations of good time or credit to any inmate now or hereafter serving a sentence in the custody of the department of corrections except in the manner provided in this section.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the method of awarding "good time" to prisoners based upon the previous procedure of good conduct and days per month according to the length of sentence. The current law allows this credit as a commutation from sentence based upon one day good time for each day of incarceration.

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