WEST virginia legislature
2018 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2483
By Delegates Eldridge, Butler, Rohrbach, R. Miller, Sobonya and Iaquinta
[Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §49-4-720 and §49-4-722 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to requiring the Division of Juvenile Services to transfer to a correctional facility or regional jail any juvenile in its custody that has been transferred to adult jurisdiction of the circuit court and who turns eighteen years of age; requiring transfer of juvenile in adult jurisdiction upon reaching eighteen years of age if he or she has either been convicted or is in a pretrial status; directing the Division of Juvenile Services to notify the circuit court one hundred eighty days or as soon as practical of a juvenile reaching eighteen years of age; requiring the circuit court to set and conduct a hearing prior to the transfer to an adult correctional facility; providing for transfer to an adult facility in the event a hearing is not held; mandating that the position of victim be taken under consideration by the court in considering disposition or alternative placement; prohibiting juveniles that commit an adult offense while under the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services from returning back to the placement in a juvenile facility if the juvenile has attained the age of eighteen years; requiring the court to conduct a hearing prior to the completion of the adult sentence; and prohibiting a court from remanding a child who has reached eighteen years of age and completed serving an adult sentence to a juvenile facility.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 4. court actions.
§49-4-720. Prohibition
on committing juveniles to adult facilities. copy provided to juvenile
(a) No juvenile, including
one who has been transferred to criminal jurisdiction of the court, shall
may 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 jail or locked facility for adults.
(b) No child who has been convicted or is awaiting
trial of an offense under the adult jurisdiction of the circuit court shall
may be held in custody in a an adult correctional facility
of this state while under the age of eighteen years. The Division of
Juvenile Services shall be responsible for notifying notify the
sentencing court and copy the county prosecuting attorney of the sentencing
court within forty-five one hundred eighty days or as soon as
practical days of the child’s eighteenth birthday that the child
will be turning eighteen years of age. The court shall, upon receipt of the
notice, set the matter for a hearing. Within ten days of the child’s
eighteenth birthday, the court shall transfer the offender to No later
than the child reaching eighteen years of age, the court shall hold a hearing
and enter an order transferring the offender to an adult correctional
facility, a facility for youthful offenders, if applicable, or to any
other disposition the court deems considers appropriate for adult
offenders. Provided, That in the event a hearing is not held
or an order is not entered by the sentencing court prior to the child reaching
eighteen years of age, that said child shall be transferred to an adult
correctional facility on the day that he or she reaches eighteen years of age.
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. Provided, however, That
the court may not remand a child having reached the age of eighteen years to a
juvenile facility or placement with other juveniles.
(c) In any hearing conducted by the court under this section, the victim, if any, of the offender’s convicted or charged crime shall be invited to attend the hearing and the victim’s position shall be given due consideration by the court in deciding to continue placement in an adult facility or any other alternative disposition or pretrial placement. The court may accept the position of the victim from a victim’s designee if the victim is deceased, lacks capacity, a minor or for any other reason considered appropriate or warranted by the court.
§49-4-722. Conviction for offense while in custody.
(a) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law to the contrary, any person who is eighteen years of age
or older who is convicted as an adult of an offense that he or she committed
while in the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services and who is therefore
sentenced to a regional jail or state correctional facility for the offense may
not be returned to the custody of the division upon the completion of his or
her adult sentence. until a hearing is held before the court which committed
the person to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services at which hearing
the division may present any objections it may have to return the person to its
custody. If the division does object and the court overrules the division's
objections, it shall make specific written findings as to its rationale for
overruling the objections.
(b) No person who is
eighteen years of age or older who is convicted as an adult of a felony crime
of violence against the person while in the custody of the Division of Juvenile
Services be returned to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services upon
completion of his or her adult sentence Prior to completion of the adult
sentence specified in subsection (a), the circuit court having jurisdiction
over the underlying juvenile matter shall conduct a hearing to determine
whether the child that has turned eighteen years of age shall remain in the
regional jail during pendency of the underlying juvenile matter or if another
disposition or pretrial placement is appropriate and available: Provided,
That the court may not remand a child having reached the age of eighteen years
to a juvenile facility or placement during the pendency of the underlying
juvenile matter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Division of Juvenile Services to transfer to a correctional facility or regional jail any juvenile in its custody that has been transferred to adult jurisdiction of the circuit court and who reaches his or her eighteenth birthday. The bill requires transfer of juvenile in adult jurisdiction upon reaching eighteen years of age if he or she has either been convicted or is in a pretrial status and directs the Division of Juvenile Services to notify the circuit court of the age of a juvenile reaching the age of eighteen years of age. The bill authorizes the circuit court to conduct a hearing as to alternative placement and mandates that the position of victim be taken under consideration by the court in determining disposition or alternative placement. The bill prohibits juveniles that commit an adult offense while under the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services from returning back to the placement in a juvenile facility if the juvenile has attained the age of eighteen years. Finally, the bill requires the court to conduct a hearing as to placement of a juvenile that has turned eighteen years of age and is remanded back to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services after completion of an adult sentence.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.