HB4633 S JUD AM #1
Lovell 7908
The Committee on the Judiciary moved to amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
That §49-4-720 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. court actions.
'49‑4‑720. Prohibition on committing juveniles to adult
facilities; requiring Division of Juvenile Services to house persons
incarcerated age appropriately; disposition of transferred juveniles;
copy provided to juvenile.
(a) No juvenile, including one who has been transferred to
criminal jurisdiction of the court, shall be detained or confined in any
institution in which he or she has contact with or comes within sight or sound
of any adult persons incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime
or are awaiting trial on criminal charges or with the security staff (including
management) or direct‑care staff of a an adult correctional
facility, jail or locked facility for adults.
(b) No child who has been convicted of an offense under the
adult jurisdiction of the circuit court shall be held in custody in a correctional
facility of this. The Division of Juvenile Services shall be responsible for
notifying the sentencing court within forty‑five days of the child=s eighteenth birthday that
the child will be turning eighteen years of age. Within ten days of the child=s eighteenth birthday, the
court shall transfer the offender to an adult correctional facility or to any
other disposition the court deems appropriate for adult offenders.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, prior to the
transfer the child shall be returned to the sentencing court for the purpose of
reconsideration and modification of the imposed sentence, which shall be based
upon a review of all records and relevant information relating to the child's
rehabilitation since his or her conviction under the adult jurisdiction of the
court. The
Division of Juvenile Services shall, no later than June 30, 2016, begin
operation and maintenance of a facility or unit of a facility to house and
detain persons eighteen years of age and older who are court-ordered into the
Division’s custody which facility or unit shall comply with the provisions on
subsection (a) of this section and the provisions of the federal Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Act provisions related to contact between incarcerated
juvenile and adult offenders.
(c)No later than sixty days prior to the eighteenth birthday of a juvenile placed in the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services pursuant to the criminal jurisdiction of a circuit court, the Division shall notify the sentencing court of the juvenile’s date of reaching adult status. Upon such notice the sentencing court shall determine if the offender should be transferred to an adult correctional facility, returned to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services or be subject to any other disposition the court deems appropriate.
(d) The amendments to subsection (b) of this section enacted during the 2016 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be effective on June 30, 2016.
Adopted
Rejected