Senate Bill No. 460
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, Chafin, Plymale, Bailey,
Kessler, Ross, Dempsey, Sharpe, Minard, Caldwell, Unger, Fanning,
White, Rowe, Prezioso, Snyder, Bowman, Helmick, Sprouse, Minear,
Guills, Weeks, Hunter, McKenzie, Facemyer, Smith, Edgell and
Love)
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[Introduced February 5, 2003; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article ten, relating to the
substance abuse prevention act; establishing the "substance
abuse prevention fund"; authorizing sources of funding and
revenue for the fund; providing for mandatory costs to be
collected from persons convicted of certain crimes which are
divided evenly between the county wherein the cost is
collected and the fund; designating purposes to be promoted by
the fund; creating the substance abuse prevention commission;
designating members of the commission; listing commission duties; and requiring the commission to enlist and receive
assistance from the partnership for a drug-free West Virginia,
a program under the auspices of the West Virginia prevention
resource center at Marshall university graduate college.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article ten, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION ACT.
§60A-10-1. Short title.
This article shall be known and referred to as the "substance
abuse prevention act."
§60A-10-2. Substance abuse prevention fund established; funding
sources; mandatory cost for persons convicted of
crime; fund to be used for substance abuse
prevention.
(a) The "substance abuse prevention fund" is hereby
established as an account in the state treasury. This fund shall
be administered by the division of criminal justice services of the
department of military affairs and public safety, as designated by
the substance abuse prevention commission provided under the
provisions of section three of this article. The fund shall be
comprised of costs imposed and collected in accordance with the
provisions of this article. Additionally, the fund is authorized to accept any other legitimate source of funding, including, but
not limited to, grants, bequests, legacies, gifts and conveyances
of personal or real property. All moneys in the fund and the
interest accruing thereon shall be used in accordance with the
provisions of this article.
(b) Unless the court finds that undue hardship would result,
a mandatory cost shall be imposed in addition to all other costs
and fines imposed pursuant to statutory authority, for persons
convicted of any offense involving driving under the influence of
alcohol or a controlled substance or substances, or any offense
involving a violation of any provision of this chapter, or any
other criminal offense wherein the court makes a finding that the
illegal or excessive use of alchohol or a controlled substance
contributed to the violation of the particular provision of law
violated. Upon any conviction involving a misdemeanor offense, the
court shall impose a mandatory cost of twenty-five dollars and for
any conviction involving a felony, the court shall impose a
mandatory cost of one hundred dollars. Of the amounts collected,
fifty percent shall remain in the county to be used for substance
abuse treatment or preventive programs to be administered by the
county commission with the advice and counsel of the prosecuting
attorney of the county. The remaining fifty percent shall be
transferred from the applicable magistrate or circuit clerk's
office to the substance abuse prevention fund on a monthly basis.
(c) Fund moneys shall be used by the substance abuse
prevention fund to educate the citizens of this state about the
dangers of substance abuse and to increase awareness of the
benefits of a drug free state through public service announcement
campaigns directed, primarily, toward school-age children, young
adults, caregivers and parents of children and employers. Funds
may also be expended to conduct other activities intended to
prevent substance abuse and which are otherwise consistent with
addressing the problems associated with substance abuse. The
director of the division of criminal justice services shall propose
legislative rules for legislative approval in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
designed to effectuate the efficient and effective use of funds for
the purposes stated herein.
§60A-10-3. Substance abuse prevention commission.
(a) The "substance abuse prevention commission" is hereby
created. Membership on the commission shall consist of the
following: (1) The director of the division of alcoholism and
substance abuse for the department of health and human resources
who shall act as chairperson of the committee; (2) the director of
the division of criminal justice services for the department of
military affairs and public safety; (3) the director of the office
of health schools for the department of education; (4) the director
of probation for the state supreme court of appeals administrative office; (5) the commissioner of the bureau for children and
families; (6) the chair person of the governor's committee on crime
delinquency and correction; (7) a substance abuse treatment
provider, to be appointed by the governor; (8) a substance abuse
prevention provider, to be appointed by the governor; (9) a
law-enforcement officer, to be appointed by the governor; and (10)
a parent of a minor child or children.
(b) The commission shall meet at the call of the chair, who
shall be obligated to call a meeting at the request of a simple
majority of the members or as necessary to ensure that the members
have met at least four times each calender year of the commission's
operation.
(c) The members of the substance abuse prevention commission
shall serve without compensation related to such service, except
that members of the commission who are not state employees shall be
reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred
discharging their duties and responsibilities.
(d) The substance abuse prevention commission has the
following duties and responsibilities:
(1) Advising and assisting the governor in the development and
implementation of a comprehensive statewide plan for promoting
citizen participation in programs designed to discourage, prevent
and treat substance abuse of all kinds;
(2) To develop and implement media campaigns intended to educate the people of this state about the dangers of substance
abuse and to increase awareness of the benefits of remaining
drug-free; and
(3) To propose legislative rules in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code,
designed to designate and delineate commission activities that will
best accomplish the goals of this article.
§60A-10-4. Partnership for a drug free West Virginia to assist in
commission activities.
The commission shall enlist and receive the assistance of the
partnership for a drug free West Virginia, the program under the
auspices of the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center at
Marshall University Graduate College to implement and achieve the
purposes provided for in this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the "Substance
Abuse Prevention Act." Particular provisions of the bill include
establishment of a substance abuse prevention fund to be used in a
public advertizing campaign to educate the citizens of the state
about the dangers of substance abuse. While the fund is free to
accept any legitimate source of funding, the bill provides for
mandatory costs to be collected from persons convicted of criminal
offenses involving substance abuse or violations of other criminal
laws involving controlled substances. The bill also establishes a
substance abuse prevention commission which is directed to work in
tandem with the partnership for a drug free West Virginia which is
the program under the auspices of the West Virginia Prevention
Resource Center at Marshall University Graduate College, to achieve
the goals of the article. Finally, the director of the division of
criminal justice is directed to propose legislative rules designed
to implement the most effective use of funds to achieve the purposes of the article.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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