H. B. 4114
(By Delegates Perry, Ellem, Morgan, Stemple,
Boggs, Webster, White and Palumbo)
[Introduced
January 21, 2008
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §25-1-3, §25-1-3b, §25-1-11a and
§25-1-11c of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and
to amend and reenact §25-4-4 of said code, all relating
generally to the Division of Corrections; updating the
statutory list of correctional facilities over which the
Commissioner has control; providing that the Commissioner is
authorized to contract with the McDowell county commission to
house and incarcerate inmates at the Stevens Correctional
Center; providing that when a commissary in a division
facility is operated by a vendor the negotiated commission
paid by the vendor is to be deposited into the facility's
inmate benefit fund; clarifying that wardens and
administrators of correctional facilities are subject to the
direction of the commissioner; specifying that all employees
of the Division of Corrections are responsible for enforcing
rules and laws necessary for the control and management of correctional units; modifying duties of those employees
designated as correctional peace officers; and providing that
wardens of centers for housing young adult offenders have the
same qualifications, powers and duties as other wardens of
correctional facilities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §25-1-3, §25-1-3b, §25-1-11a and §25-1-11c of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that
§25-4-4 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. ORGANIZATION, INSTITUTIONS AND CORRECTIONS MANAGEMENT.
§25-1-3. Institutions managed by Commissioner of Corrections;
certain institutions transferred to Department of
Health and Human Resources; establishment of work and
study release units.
The Commissioner of Corrections shall manage, direct, control
and govern the following penal or correctional institutions and any
others placed under his or her jurisdiction or control:
Mount Olive Correctional Complex;
Huttonsville Correctional Center;
Anthony Correctional Center;
Denmar Correctional Center;
Pruntytown Correctional Center;
Northern West Virginia Correctional Center; and
St. Marys Correctional Center;
Lakin Correctional Center;
Ohio County Correctional Center;
Beckley Correctional Center; and
Martinsburg Correctional Center.
The Commissioner of Corrections is authorized to contract with
the county commission of McDowell County to house and incarcerate
inmates at the Stevens Correctional Center consistent with all
requirements and standards governing the Division of Corrections.
Jurisdiction of and title to the West Virginia Children's Home
at Elkins are hereby transferred to the Department of Health and
Human Resources, which shall be is the custodian of all deeds and
other muniments of title to the property and shall record those
that are susceptible of recordation to be recorded in the proper
offices. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the West Virginia Children's Home shall be managed and
controlled by a superintendent appointed by the commissioner of
health and division of human resources services.
The commissioner is hereby authorized to establish work and
study release units as extensions and subsidiaries of those state
institutions under his or her control and authority. The work and
study release units may be coeducational and shall be managed,
directed and controlled as provided for in this article.
The commissioner is hereby authorized to serve as a member of the Commission for Distribution of Surplus Foods and exercise all
powers and authority otherwise granted to him or her in this
article to implement the pilot program for delivery of leftover
prepared foods at any institution under his or her control and
supervision, pursuant to section seventeen, article two, chapter
eighteen of this code.
Any person employed by the office of public institutions who
on the effective date of this article is a classified civil service
employee shall, within the limits contained in section two, article
six, chapter twenty-nine of this code, remain in the civil service
system as a covered employee.
§25-1-3b. Inmate benefit funds.
(a) The Commissioner of Corrections shall establish an inmate
benefit fund for each of the institutions under his or her
jurisdiction. The inmate benefit fund is a fund held by the
institutions for the benefit and welfare of inmates incarcerated in
state correctional facilities and for the benefit of victims.
(b) There is hereby created continued a special revenue
account in the State Treasury for each inmate benefit fund
established by the commissioner. Moneys received by an institution
for deposit in an inmate benefit fund shall be deposited with the
State Treasurer to be credited to the special revenue account
created for the institution's inmate benefit fund. Moneys in a
special revenue account established for an inmate benefit fund may be expended by the institution for the purposes set forth in this
section. Moneys to be deposited into an inmate benefit fund
consist of:
(1) All profit from the exchange or commissary operation, and
if the commissary is operated by a vendor, whether a public or
private entity, the profit is the negotiated commission paid to the
Division of Corrections by the vendor;
(2) All net proceeds from vending machines used for inmate
visitation;
(3) All proceeds from contracted inmate telephone commissions;
(4) Any funds that may be assigned by inmates or donated to
the institution by the general public or an inmate service
organization on behalf of all inmates;
(5) Any funds confiscated considered contraband; and
(6) Any unexpended balances in individual inmate trustee funds
if designated by the inmate upon his or her discharge from the
institution.
(c) The inmate benefit fund may only be used for the following
purposes at correctional facilities:
(1) Open-house visitation functions or other nonroutine inmate
functions;
(2) Holiday functions which may include decorations and gifts
for children of inmates;
(3) Cable television service;
(4) Rental of video cassettes;
(5) Payment of video license;
(6) Recreational supplies, equipment or area surfacing;
(7) Reimbursement of employee wages for overtime incurred
during open-house visitations and holiday functions;
(8) Postsecondary education classes;
(9) Reimbursement of a pro rata share of inmate work
compensation;
(10) Household equipment and supplies in day rooms or units as
approved by chief executive officers of institutions, excluding
supplies used in the daily maintenance and sanitation of the unit;
(11) Christmas or other holidays gift certificates for each
inmate to be used at the exchange or commissary;
(12) Any expense associated with the operation of the fund;
(13) Expenditures necessary to properly operate an automated
inmate family and victim information notification system;
(14) Any expense for improvement of the facility which will
benefit the inmate population that is not otherwise funded; and
(15) Any expense related to the installation, operation and
maintenance of the inmate telephone system.
(d) The institution shall compile a monthly report that
specifically documents inmate benefit fund receipts and
expenditures and a yearly report for the previous fiscal year by
the first day of September of each year and submit the reports to the commissioner.
§25-1-11a. Duties of wardens and administrators; bond; residence.
The warden or administrator is the chief executive officer of
his or her assigned correctional institution and subject to the
direction of the commissioner, has the responsibility for the
overall management of all operations within his or her assigned
institution. He or she is in charge of its internal police and
management, and shall provide for feeding, clothing, working and
taking care of the inmates, subject to the control of the state
Commissioner of Corrections: Provided, That the Commissioner of
Corrections may authorize the warden or administrator to establish
an imprest fund in accordance with the provisions of section two,
article two, chapter twelve of this code for the sole purpose of
providing employees with funds to transport inmates for any purpose
as determined by the warden or administrator. The employee is
required to complete a travel reimbursement form for the travel
within five days of returning to the correctional facility. The
funds shall be used to reimburse the imprest fund for the amount
expended by the employee. The warden or administrator shall
promptly enforce all orders and rules made by the commissioner. He
or she shall protect and preserve the property of the state and may
for that purpose punish the inmates in the manner authorized by the
Commissioner of Corrections. The warden or administrator shall
have the custody and control of all the real and personal property at the correctional institution, subject to the orders of the
Commissioner of Corrections. The warden or administrator shall be
bonded by the board of Risk and Insurance Management.
§25-1-11c. Hiring of other assistants and employees; duties of
correctional employees; right to carry weapons;
powers of correctional peace officers.
(a) The warden or administrator of the correctional
institutions or units shall, in the manner provided in section
eleven of this article, hire all assistants and employees required
for the management of the correctional institutions or units,
including a sufficient number of correctional employees to preserve
order and enforce discipline among the inmates, to prevent escapes
and to remove all persons convicted and sentenced to the custody of
the Division of Corrections, from the place confined to a
correctional institution, all of whom shall be under the control of
the warden. The commissioner may issue a certificate authorizing
any correctional employee who has successfully completed the
division's training program for firearms certification, which shall
be the equivalent of that required of deputy sheriffs, to carry
firearms and concealed weapons while on duty. Any correctional
employee authorized by the commissioner has the right, without a
state license, to carry firearms and concealed weapons while on
duty. Each correctional employee, authorized by the commissioner,
shall carry with him or her a certificate, authorizing him or her to carry a firearm or concealed weapon when performing his or her
official duties as a correctional employee, bearing the official
signature of the commissioner and warden or administrator. The
right is extended to a correctional employee during the time the
employee travels from place to place within the state for the
purpose of removing prisoners from jails to a correctional
institution of the Division of Corrections, and during the time the
employee is pursuing and apprehending escaped inmates, and during
any other time the employee is performing official duties as a
correctional employee. No correctional employee shall have has the
right to carry a firearm or concealed weapon for any other purpose
or during any other time, including when traveling to and from the
employee's residence and a correctional institution, unless the
employee has obtained a state license in the manner prescribed in
article seven, chapter sixty-one of this code.
(b) The commissioner of corrections may designate correctional
employees as correctional peace officers who have the following
powers:
(1) To enforce
All employees of the Division of Corrections are responsible
for enforcing rules and laws necessary for the control and
management of correctional units and the maintenance of public
safety that is within the scope of responsibilities of the Division
of Corrections.
(c) The Commissioner of Corrections may designate correctional
employees as correctional peace officers who have the authority:
(2) (1) To detain persons for violations of state law
committed on the property of any state correctional institution;
(3) (2) To conduct investigations pursue and apprehend
escapees from the custody of the commissioner or any state
correctional institution; regarding criminal activity occuring
within a correctional facility; and
(4) (3) To execute criminal process on persons in the custody
of the commissioner, or who surrender themselves at any state
correctional institution or other process in furtherance of these
duties.
ARTICLE 4. CENTERS FOR HOUSING YOUNG ADULT OFFENDERS.
§25-4-4. Warden.
Each center shall be under the direction of a warden, who
shall have the minimum qualification of a college degree with a
major in criminal justice or a related field same qualifications,
powers and duties as described in section eleven, article one,
chapter twenty-five and section eleven-a, article one, chapter
twenty-five. The warden shall be paid an annual salary to be fixed
by the Commissioner of Corrections. The warden, subject to the
authority of the commissioner, has the responsibility for the
overall operation of the center.
At each center the warden shall administer programming which shall include the following components:
(1) A work program;
(2) An educational program in accordance with section
thirteen-f, article two, chapter eighteen of this code;
(3) A recreational program; and
(4) A counseling program with an emphasis on substance abuse
and life skills.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update various provisions
of the Code relating to the Division of Corrections. The bill
would:
(1) Update the statutory list of correctional facilities over
which the Commissioner has control;
(2) Providing that the Commissioner is authorized to contract
with the McDowell county commission to house and incarcerate
inmates at the Stevens Correctional Center;
(3) Providing that when a commissary in a division facility is
operated by a vendor the negotiated commission paid by the vendor
is to be deposited into the facility's inmate benefit fund;
(4) Clarifying that wardens and administrators of correctional
facilities are subject to the direction of the commissioner;
(5) Specifying that all employees of the Division of
Corrections are responsible for enforcing rules and laws necessary
for the control and management of correctional units;
(6) Modifying duties of those employees designated as
correctional peace officers; and
(7) Provide that wardens of centers for housing young adult
offenders have the same qualifications, powers and duties as other
wardens of correctional facilities.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage during
the 2008 Regular Session of the Legislature by the Legislative
Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
Authority.