H. B. 2274
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Walters,
Leach, Compton, Clements, Webb and Trump)
[Introduced February 28, 1997; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article five-b,
chapter twenty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the sale of prison-made goods.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article five-b, chapter twenty-eight
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5B. PRISON-MADE GOODS.
§28-5B-15. Sale of prison-made goods on open market
prohibited; penalty; exceptions.
(a) Subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of
this section, it is unlawful to sell or offer for sale on the
open market of this state any articles or products manufactured or produced, wholly or in part, in this or any other state, by
convicts or prisoners of this state, or any other state, except
convicts or prisoners on parole or probation.
This provision
does not apply to the sale of recycled tires. Any person
violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of
not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five thousand
dollars, or by imprisonment in jail not less than three months
nor more than one year, or by both fine and imprisonment. Each
such sale or offer for sale shall constitute a separate offense
under this section.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, any articles or products manufactured or produced,
wholly or in part, by inmates of West Virginia penal and
correctional institutions and facilities which are designed and
intended to be used solely by blind and handicapped persons,
including, but not limited to, braille books and reading
materials, may be sold or offered for sale or distributed on the
open market by the department of corrections or other state
department or agency.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, arts and crafts produced by inmates may be sold to the
general public by the department of corrections or by
such other agencies or departments of state government as the commissioner
of corrections may designate. The arts and crafts shall be sold
only on a consignment basis so that inmates whose arts and crafts
products are sold shall receive payment for the products. The
payments shall be deposited in
such the accounts or funds and
managed in
such a manner as provided by section six, article five
of this chapter:
Provided, That where the state department of
corrections or any other agency or department of state government
provides any materials used in the production of an arts and
crafts product, the fair market value of
such the materials may
be deducted from the account of the individual inmate after the
sale of
such the product.
(d) For purposes of this section, "arts and crafts" means
articles produced individually by artistic or craft skill such
as, but not limited to, painting, sculpture, pottery and jewelry.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt recycled tires
from the prohibition on the sale of prison-made goods.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.