Senate Bill No. 646
(By Senators Kessler and Stollings)
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[Introduced February 22, 2010; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §61-11-21 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing that criminal
sentences of imprisonment may run concurrently or
consecutively; and providing that sentences are to run
concurrently unless a court orders or a statute requires
otherwise.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-11-21 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11. GENERAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING CRIMES.
§61-11-21. Cumulative, concurrent and consecutive sentences.
(a) When any person is convicted of two or more offenses,
before sentence is pronounced for either, the confinement to which
he
or she may be sentenced upon the second, or any subsequent
conviction, shall commence at the termination of the previous term or terms of confinement, unless, in the discretion of the trial
court, the second or any subsequent conviction is ordered by the
court to run concurrently with the first term of imprisonment
imposed.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, on and
after the effective date of the amendment to this section enacted
during the 2010 regular session of the Legislature, whenever
sentences are imposed on a defendant at the same time, or if a term
of imprisonment is imposed on a defendant who is already subject to
an undischarged term of imprisonment, the terms may run
concurrently or consecutively. Multiple terms of imprisonment
imposed at the same time shall run concurrently unless the court
orders, or the statute of conviction mandates, that the terms are
not to run concurrently. Multiple terms of imprisonment imposed at
different times run concurrently unless the court imposing the
sentence later in time orders that the terms are to run
consecutively.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that criminal
sentences of imprisonment may run concurrently or consecutively.
The bill also provides that sentences are to run concurrently
unless a court orders or a statute requires otherwise.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.