ENGROSSED
H. B. 2153
(By Delegates Caputo, Staton, Perdue, Tucker and Stalnaker)
[Introduced
January 11, 2006
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §31-20-27 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to regional jail and
correctional facility authority employees; and requiring
classified service designation for certain employees of the
regional jails and the northern regional jail and
correctional facility.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section §31-20-27 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY AUTHORITY.
§31-20-27. Employees of Regional Jail Authority; priority of
hiring; civil service coverage.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the authority, when employing correctional officers
hiring employees to complete the approved staffing plan of a
regional jail completed after the effective date of this section,
shall employ any correctional officer applying for a position as
a correctional officer at a regional jail who was employed in
good standing at a county jail facility in the region at the time
of its closing or at a prison facility operated by the division
of corrections: Provided, That the regional jail is located
within the same region as the prison facility that was closed due
to relocation of the prison facility to a site outside the
region. Only those correctional officers, who are employees in
good standing at the time the prison facility is closed, are
eligible for transfer under the provisions of this subsection.
Correctional officers, employed under the provisions of this
subsection, shall be employed shall do so at a salary and with
benefits consistent with the approved plan of compensation of the
division of personnel, created under section five, article six,
chapter twenty-nine of this code. All correctional officers
persons employed under this subsection shall also be covered by
the policies and procedures of the education and state employees
grievance board, created under section five, article six-a,
chapter twenty-nine of this code. and the classified-exempt
service protection policies of the division of personnel.
(b) The authority shall, when employing correctional officers to fill positions within the approved staffing plan of
any regional jail, employ any correctional officer applying for a
position as a correctional officer at a regional jail who was
previously employed as a correctional officer in good standing at
any local jail facility: Provided, That the local jail facility
is located within the same region as the regional jail at the
time of the local jail facility's closing or reduction in size
and was reduced in size or closed prior to or due to the
completion of the regional jail within the region. Correctional
officers Persons employed under the provisions of this
subsection, shall be employed at a salary and with benefits
consistent with the approved plan of compensation of the division
of personnel, created under section five, article six, chapter
twenty-nine of this code. Only those county correctional
officers who are employees in good standing at the time the local
jail facility is closed are eligible for transfer under the
provisions of this subsection. All correctional officers All
persons employed under this subsection shall also be covered by
the policies and procedures of the education and state employees
grievance board created under section five, article six-a,
chapter twenty-nine of this code. and the classified-exempt
service protection of the division of personnel.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, on and after the first day of July, two thousand seven, any person then employed or to be employed by the Regional Jail
and Correctional Facility Authority, except the executive
director appointed pursuant to section four, article twenty,
chapter thirty-one of this code, shall within the limitations
contained in section two, article six, chapter twenty-nine of
this code, be placed in the civil service system as a covered
employee.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that, on and
after July 1, 2005, correctional officers employed by the
Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority and the
Northern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility be transferred
into the civil service system as covered employees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.