ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 270
(By Senators Kessler, Hunter and Unger)
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[Passed March 4, 2008; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §62-11A-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to eliminating obsolete language
requiring circuit clerks to handle and disburse certain inmate
moneys.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §62-11A-1
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11A. RELEASE FOR WORK AND OTHER PURPOSES.
§62-11A-1. Release for work and other purposes by courts of
record with criminal jurisdiction.
(a) When a defendant is sentenced or committed for a term of
one year or less by a court of record having criminal jurisdiction,
the court may in its order grant to the defendant the privilege of
leaving the jail during necessary and reasonable hours for any of
the following purposes:
(1) To work at his or her employment;
(2) To seek employment;
(3) To conduct his or her own business or to engage in other
self-employment, including housekeeping and attending to the needs
of his or her family;
(4) To attend an educational institution;
(5) To obtain medical treatment;
(6) To devote time to any other purpose approved of or ordered
by the court, including participation in the litter control program
of the county unless the court specifically finds that this
alternative service would be inappropriate.
(b) Whenever an inmate who has been granted the privilege of
leaving the jail under this section is not engaged in the activity
for which the leave is granted, he or she shall be confined in
jail.
(c) An inmate sentenced to ordinary confinement may petition
the court at any time after sentence for the privilege of leaving
jail under this section and may renew his or her petition in the
discretion of the court. The court may withdraw the privilege at
any time by order entered with or without notice.
(d) If the inmate has been granted permission to leave the
jail to seek or take employment, the court's probation officers or,
if none, the jail shall assist him or her in obtaining suitable
employment and in making certain that employment already obtained
is suitable. Employment shall not be deemed suitable if the wages or working conditions or other circumstances present a danger of
exploitation or of interference in a labor dispute in the
establishment in which the inmate would be employed.
(e) An inmate who is serving his or her sentence pursuant to
this section shall be eligible for a reduction of his or her term
for good behavior and faithful performance of duties in the same
manner as if he or she had served his or her term in ordinary
confinement.
(f) The court shall not make an order granting the privilege
of leaving the institution under this section unless it is
satisfied that there are adequate facilities for the administration
of such privilege in the jail or other institution in which the
defendant will be confined.
(g) In every case wherein the defendant has been convicted of
an offense, defined in section twelve, article eight, chapter
sixty-one of this code or in article eight-b or eight-d of said
chapter against a child, the defendant shall not live in the same
residence as any minor child, nor exercise visitation with any
minor child and shall have no contact with the victim of the
offense:
Provided, That the defendant may petition the court of the
circuit wherein he or she was so convicted for a modification of
this term and condition of this probation and the burden shall rest
upon the defendant to demonstrate that a modification is in the
best interest of the child.