Senate Bill No. 361
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Caruth,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced January 29, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §31-20-31, relating
to authorizing the Executive Director of the West Virginia
Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority to establish
a work program for qualified inmates in regional jail
facilities; providing accounting procedures and requirements;
specifying required deductions from earnings; permitting
transfer of funds to the Commissioner of Corrections; and
authorizing legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §31-20-31, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
AUTHORITY.
§31-20-31. Work program.
(a) The executive director is authorized to establish at each
regional jail facility a work program for qualified inmates and to
establish at each regional jail facility under his or her
jurisdiction a "Work Program Fund":
Provided, That with regard to
an inmate sentenced to a correctional facility that is domiciled at
a regional jail facility under the supervision of the authority,
the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections shall first
determine the eligibility of such inmate for participation in the
work program authorized by this section and consent to such
inmate's participation therein.
(b) The administrator of each regional jail facility shall
receive and take charge of the money and personal property of all
inmates in his or her regional jail and all money or personal
property sent to the inmates or earned by the inmates as
compensation for work performed under this section. The
administrator shall credit the money and earnings to the inmate
entitled to it and shall keep an accurate account of all the money
and personal property so received, which account is subject to
examination by the executive director. The administrator shall
deposit the moneys in one or more responsible banks in accounts to
be designated a "Work Program Fund".
(c) For each inmate participating in a work program authorized
by this section, the administrator of the regional jail facility shall keep in an account at least ten percent of all money earned
during the inmate's incarceration and pay the money to the inmate
at the time of the inmate's release. The administrator may
authorize the inmate to withdraw money from his or her mandatory
savings for the purpose of preparing the inmate for reentry into
society.
(d) The executive director may direct that an inmate who works
in work programs established under this section make reimbursement
to the authority toward the cost of his or her incarceration:
Provided, That prior to directing a qualified inmate to make
reimbursement under this section, the executive director shall
consider the following:
(1) The inmate's ability to pay;
(2) The nature and extent of the inmate's responsibilities to
his or her dependents, if any;
(3) The length of probable incarceration under the court's
sentence; and
(4) The effect, if any, that reimbursement might have on the
inmate's rehabilitation.
(e) (1) The administrator shall deduct from the earnings of
each qualified inmate legitimate court-ordered financial
obligations including, but not limited to, child support payments,
liens, and any other court-ordered financial obligation. The
executive director shall develop a policy that outlines the formula for the distribution of the qualified inmate's income and the
formula shall include a percentage deduction, not to exceed forty
percent in the aggregate, for any court ordered victim restitution,
court fees and child support obligations owed under a support
order, including an administrative fee not to exceed one dollar,
consistent with the provisions of subsection (c), section four
hundred six, article fourteen, chapter forty-eight of this code, to
support the authority's administration of this financial service.
(2) In the event that the qualified inmate's income is subject
to garnishment for child support enforcement deductions, it shall
be calculated on the net wages after taxes, legal financial
obligations and garnishment:
Provided, That nothing in this
section limits the authority of the Bureau for Child Support
Enforcement of the Department of Health and Human Resources from
taking collection action against an inmate's moneys, assets or
property.
(f) The administrator of a regional jail facility, on request
of an inmate, may expend up to one half of the money earned by the
inmate on behalf of the family of the inmate:
Provided, That the
court ordered financial obligations provided in subsection (e) of
this section and other fees owed by the inmate including, but not
limited to, the costs of incarceration and any restitution for
facility rule infractions, have been paid. The remainder of the
money earned, after deducting amounts expended as authorized, shall be accumulated to the credit of the inmate and be paid to the
inmate at times as may be prescribed by rules. The funds so
accumulated on behalf of inmates shall be held by the administrator
of each institution under a bond approved by the Attorney General.
(g) The administrator shall deliver to the inmate at the time
he or she leaves the regional jail facility, or as soon as
practicable after departure, all personal property, moneys and
earnings then credited to the inmate:
Provided, That if an inmate
is transferred to a correctional facility, as defined in section
two of this article, at the time he or she leaves the regional jail
facility, the administrator shall deliver all personal property,
moneys and earnings then credited to the inmate to the Commissioner
of the Division of Corrections for administration in accordance
with the provisions of section three-a, article one, chapter
twenty-five of this code. In case of the death of the inmate
before authorized release from the regional jail facility, the
administrator shall deliver the property to the inmate's personal
representative. In case a conservator is appointed for the inmate
while he or she is domiciled at the regional jail facility, the
administrator shall deliver to the conservator, upon proper demand,
all moneys and personal property belonging to the inmate that are
in the custody of the administrator.
(h) The executive director shall propose rules for legislative
approval in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to administer and establish the work programs authorized
by this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Executive
Director of the Regional Jail Authority to establish work programs
for qualified inmates and to administer the earnings of the inmates
to permit reimbursement to the authority for the costs of
incarceration.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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