Senate Bill No. 712
(By Senator Sprouse)
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[Introduced February 20, 2006; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §15-2F-1, §15-2F-2,
§15-2F-3, §15-2F-4 and §15-2F-5, all relating to establishing
a drug offender registry that can be accessed by the public.
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 article, designated §15-2F-1, §15-2F-2,
§15-2F-3, §15-2F-4 and §15-2F-5, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2F. DRUG OFFENDER REGISTRY.
§15-2F-1. Definitions.
The following words when used in this article have meanings
ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(a) "Drug offender registry" or "registry" means the registry
created by this article which shall contain the names of individuals who have been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor
offense constituting a drug offense.
(b) "Drug offense" means an offense enumerated in chapter sixty-
a of this code.
(c) "Conviction" of a felony or a misdemeanor means an
adjudication of guilt by a court or jury following a hearing on the
merits, or an entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
§15-2F-2. Drug offender registry; required information.
(a) The criminal identification bureau of the West Virginia
State Police shall establish a drug offender registry, to contain
information relating to criminal convictions involving drug
offenses.
(b) The drug offender registry shall contain, at a minimum,
information relating to convictions of a misdemeanor or a felony
involving a drug offense. The drug offense registry shall contain
the following information:
(1) The individual's full name;
(2) Sufficient information to identify the individual,
including date of birth, social security number and fingerprints if
available;
(3) Identification of the criminal offense constituting a drug
offense;
(4) Any statement by the individual disputing the conviction,
if he or she chooses to make and file one.
(c) Upon conviction in the criminal courts of this state of a
misdemeanor or a felony offense constituting a drug offense, the
individual so convicted shall be placed on the drug offender
registry.
§15-2F-3. Reports of certain convictions by prosecuting attorneys.
(a) The prosecuting attorneys in each of the fifty-five
counties within the state, upon conviction of a misdemeanor, a
felony or a lesser included misdemeanor drug offense shall report
the conviction to the drug offender registry, together with
additional information, provided in a form, as may be required by
the criminal identification bureau for registry purposes.
Reporting procedures shall be developed by the criminal
identification bureau in conjunction with the prosecuting
attorneys' institute and the office of the administrator of the
Supreme Court of Appeals.
(b) Information relating to convictions prior to the effective
date of this section of a misdemeanor or a felony constituting a
drug offense shall, to the extent which is feasible and
practicable, be placed on the drug offender registry.
§15-2F-4. Registry information accessible to public.
The information contained in the drug offender registry shall
be made accessible to the public.
§15-2F-5. Expungement of registry listing.
Registry listings of drug offenders shall promptly be expunged in cases where a conviction is vacated or overturned following
appeal by a court having jurisdiction; where the record of a
conviction is expunged by a court having jurisdiction; or in cases
where the individual so convicted is granted executive clemency
with respect to the conviction.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a drug
offender registry that can be accessed by the public.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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