Introduced Version
Senate Bill 311 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 311
(By Senators Kessler, Fanning, Caldwell, Jenkins,
Ross, White and Weeks)
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[Introduced January 29, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §62-1C-14 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to allowing bail bondsmen to
deliver offenders to county and regional jails without
bailpiece; setting requirements; setting forth requirements
related to medical treatment of defendant prior to authorities
taking custody pursuant to a bailpiece; providing for certain
immunities from liability; and providing penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §62-1C-14 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1C. BAIL. §62-1C-14, Bailpiece; issuance to surety; taking
accused into custody.
(a) A bailpiece is a certificate stating that the bail became
such for the accused in a particular case and the amount thereof.
Upon demand therefore, the court, justice [magistrate] magistrate or clerk shall issue to the surety bail bondsman a bailpiece. Any
officer having authority to execute a warrant of arrest shall
assist the surety bail bondsman holding such bailpiece to take the
accused into custody and produce him before the court or justice
[magistrate] magistrate. The surety bail bondsman may take the
accused into custody and surrender him to the court or justice
[magistrate] magistrate without such bailpiece.
(b) If bailpiece is inaccessible due to unavailability of the
courts' circuit clerk or magistrate, the bail bondsman, or his or
her designee, can take an offender to a regional or county jail
without bailpiece, and the jail must accept the offender; provided:
(1) The bail bondsman, or his or her designee, delivering an
offender to a jail without a bailpiece issued by the courts'
circuit clerk or magistrate appears on the registered list
maintained at the jails and approved by the court of original
jurisdiction;
(2) The bail bondsman signs an agreement provided by the jail
indicating that the offender has been booked in lieu of bailpiece.
Such agreement shall contain a clause indicating the incarceration
of such offender is lawful and that the jail accepting the offender
shall be held harmless from any claims of illegal incarceration or
other relative charges; thereby, such bail bondsman assumes the
risk and liability of such incarceration; and
(3) Bailpiece must be applied for by the bail bondsman or his or her designee from the courts' circuit clerk or magistrate and
hand-delivered by the bail bondsman or his or her designee to the
jail housing such offender on the next judicial day following the
initial intake.
(c) Any bail bondsman who willfully fails to attempt to obtain
the appropriate bailpiece within the allotted time period provided
in subsection (c) of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be prohibited from continuing to conduct
business in this state and shall be imprisoned in a correctional
facility not less than one year nor more than three years.
(d) No officer, jailer or other person having authority to
accept offenders in a county or regional jail is required to accept
such offenders being housed in lieu of bailpiece if such offender
appears to be in need of medical attention of a degree
necessitating treatment by a physician. If an offender is refused
pursuant to the provisions of this section, he or she may not be
accepted for detention until the bail bondsmen, or his or her
designee, provides the jailer or persons accepting such offender
with a written clearance from a licensed physician reflecting that
the offender has been examined and, if necessary, treated, and
which states that it is the physician's medical opinion that the
offender can be safely confined in the county or regional jail.
(e) The regional jail authority, the county sheriff, county
commission, or any of their agents or employees, shall be immune from liability for any claims of illegal incarceration or other
relative charges for any offender accepted into a facility under
this section.
NOTE: This bill allows bail bondsmen to deliver offenders to
a count or regional jail without bailpiece if a magistrate or
circuit clerk is inaccessible; creates a penalty for bailbondsmen
to fail to obtain the appropriate bailpiece in the allotted time;
prevents acceptance of an offender into jail if that person needs
medical treatment; and provides civil immunity for claims of
illegal incarceration for offenders incarcerated pursuant to this
section.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage by the
Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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