ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 192
(Senators Love, Hunter, White,
McKenzie and Plymale, original sponsors)
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[Passed March 9, 2007;
in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §62-8-8, relating to
authorizing the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections to
issue orders of arrest for certain inmates who are no longer
in the physical custody of the commissioner; allowing division
personnel to obtain criminal complaints and warrants for
escapees and absconders; and entering data into all criminal
reporting databases and other computerized systems for the
reporting and apprehension of criminals and fugitives.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §62-8-8, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 8. CRIMES BY AND PROCEEDINGS AGAINST INMATES.
§62-8-8.Orders and warrants for arrest of inmates; authorization
to obtain arrest warrants.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections, or his
or her designee, may issue an order of arrest for inmates who have
been released from the custody of the division due to a clerical
error, mistake or due to the failure of a sentencing court to
timely transmit an order of commitment prior to the release of an
inmate from the commissioner's custody or to the commissioner's
custody. All law-enforcement officers shall honor and enforce
orders of arrest in the same manner afforded warrants of arrest
issued by magistrate or circuit courts notwithstanding any
provision of this code to the contrary.
(b)The Commissioner of the Division of Corrections, or his
or her designee, may file criminal complaints and obtain from a
court of competent jurisdiction an arrest warrant for any inmate
under commitment to the commissioner for service of a sentence of
incarceration who has escaped from a facility or otherwise
absconded from a furlough or temporary release.
(c)The Commissioner of the Division of Corrections, or his
or her designee, may enter such orders of arrest or warrants
referred to in this section into all criminal reporting databases
and other computerized systems utilized by law enforcement for the
reporting and apprehension of criminals and fugitives.