Enrolled Version - Final Version
Senate Bill 711 History
OTHER VERSIONS -
Introduced Version - Originating in Committee
|
Engrossed Version
|
| Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 711
(By Senators Wooton, Burnette, Caldwell, Hunter, Minard, Ross, Rowe, Snyder,
Deem and Facemyer)
____________
[Passed March 9, 2002; in effect ninety days from passage.]
_____________
AN ACT to amend and reenact section ten, article five, chapter
sixty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
sections two, three, four, six and seven, article eleven-c of
said chapter, all relating to community corrections generally;
adding community corrections boards to list of persons or
entities which set participation fees in community corrections
programs; imposing a twenty-five dollar mandatory special
assessment against convicted felons for deposit in the
community corrections fund; adding three dollars to court
costs in criminal proceedings in municipal, magistrate or
circuit court; excluding parking ordinances; and directing
clerks of respective courts to collect the fee for deposit in
the community corrections fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article five, chapter sixty-two of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that sections two, three, four, six
and seven, article eleven-c of said chapter be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COSTS IN CRIMINAL CASES.
§62-5-10. Mandatory cost assessed upon conviction of a felony.
(a) Every circuit court shall assess, in every felony criminal
matter as a cost to the defendant, an assessment in the sum of
seventy-five dollars for each felony count of conviction. The
assessment referred to herein shall be paid upon adjudication of
guilt unless the court determines that the defendant is unable to
pay in such a manner in which case payment of the assessment shall
be paid prior to final disposition. If the circuit court
determines that a defendant is financially unable to pay the
assessment prior to final disposition, payment of the assessment
shall be a mandatory condition of probation or parole.
(b) The clerk of the circuit court wherein the assessment is
imposed under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section
shall, on or before the last day of each month, transmit all costs
received pursuant to this section to the state treasurer for
deposit as follows: Fifty dollars to the credit of the crime
victims compensation fund created by the provisions of section
four, article two-a, chapter fourteen of this code and twenty-five dollars to the credit of the West Virginia community corrections
fund created by the provisions of section four, article eleven-c of
this chapter.
ARTICLE 11C. THE WEST VIRGINIA COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS ACT.
§62-11C-2. Community corrections subcommittee.
(a) A community corrections subcommittee of the governor's
committee on crime, delinquency and correction is hereby created
and assigned responsibility for screening community corrections
programs submitted by community criminal justice boards or from
other entities authorized by the provisions of this article to do
so for approval for funding by the governor's committee and for
making recommendations as to the disbursement of funds for approved
community corrections programs. The subcommittee is to be
comprised of fifteen members of the governor's committee including:
A representative of the division of corrections, a representative
of the regional jail and correctional facility authority, a person
representing the interests of victims of crime, an attorney
employed by a public defender corporation, an attorney who
practices criminal law, a prosecutor and a representative of the
West Virginia coalition against domestic violence. At the
discretion of the West Virginia supreme court of appeals, the
administrator of the supreme court of appeals, a probation officer
and a circuit judge may serve on the subcommittee as ex officio,
nonvoting members.
(b) The subcommittee shall elect a chairperson and a vice
chairperson. Special meetings may be held upon the call of the
chairperson, vice chairperson or a majority of the members of the
subcommittee. A majority of the members of the subcommittee
constitute a quorum.
(c) A working group of the community corrections subcommittee
is hereby created to study safe and effective pretrial diversion
programs for persons charged with domestic violence offenses and to
recommend, based upon its findings, programs considered to be safe
and effective in reducing incidences of domestic violence and
educating persons charged with a domestic violence offense. The
working group is to be comprised of the following members of the
subcommittee: (1) If approved by the West Virginia supreme court of
appeals, the circuit judge; (2) the prosecuting attorney; (3) the
public defender or the criminal defense attorney; (4) the probation
officer; and (5) the representative of the West Virginia coalition
against domestic violence. The working group is to report its
findings and recommendations to the subcommittee on or before the
first day of July, two thousand two.
§62-11C-3. Duties of the governor's committee and the community
corrections subcommittee.
(a) Upon recommendation of the community corrections
subcommittee, the governor's committee shall propose for
legislative promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, emergency and
legislative rules to:
(1) Establish standards for approval of community corrections
programs submitted by community criminal justice boards or other
entities authorized by the provisions of this article to do so;
(2) Establish minimum standards for community corrections
programs to be funded, including requiring annual program
evaluations;
(3) Make any necessary adjustments to the fees established in
section four of this article;
(4) Establish reporting requirements for community corrections
programs; and
(5) Carry out the purpose and intent of this article.
(b) Upon recommendation of the community corrections
subcommittee, the governor's committee shall:
(1) Maintain records of community corrections programs
including the corresponding community criminal justice board or
other entity contact information and annual program evaluations,
when available;
(2) Seek funding for approved community corrections programs
from sources other than the fees collected pursuant to section four
of this article; and
(3) Provide funding for approved community corrections
programs, as available.
(c) The governor's committee shall submit, on or before the
thirtieth day of September of each year, to the governor, the
speaker of the House of Delegates, the president of the Senate and,
upon request, to any individual member of the Legislature a report
on its activities during the previous year and an accounting of
funds paid into and disbursed from the special revenue account
established pursuant to section four of this article.
§62-11C-4. Special revenue account.
(a) There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
revenue account to be known as the "West Virginia community
corrections fund". Expenditures from the fund are for the purposes
set forth in subsection (d) of this section and are not authorized
from collections but are to be made only in accordance with
appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon
the fulfillment of the provisions set forth in article two, chapter
five-a of this code: Provided, That for the fiscal year ending the
thirtieth day of June, two thousand two, expenditures are
authorized from collections rather than pursuant to an
appropriation by the Legislature. The West Virginia community
corrections fund may receive any gifts, grants, contributions or
other money from any source which is specifically designated for
deposit in the fund.
(b) Beginning on the effective date of this article, in addition to the fee required in section nine, article twelve of
this chapter, a fee not to exceed thirty dollars per month, unless
modified by legislative rule as provided in section three of this
article, is also to be collected from those persons on probation.
This fee is to be based upon the person's ability to pay. The
magistrate or circuit judge shall conduct a hearing prior to
imposition of probation and make a determination on the record that
the offender is able to pay the fee without undue hardship. The
magistrate clerk or circuit clerk shall collect all fees imposed
pursuant to this subsection and deposit them in a separate account.
Within ten calendar days following the beginning of the calendar
month, the magistrate clerk or circuit clerk shall forward the
amount deposited to the state treasurer to be credited to the West
Virginia community corrections fund.
(c) Beginning on the effective date of this article, in
addition to the fee required in section five, article eleven-b of
this chapter, a fee not to exceed five dollars per day, unless
modified by legislative rule as provided in section three of this
article, is also to be collected from those persons on home
incarceration. The circuit judge, magistrate or municipal court
judge shall consider the person's ability to pay in determining the
imposition and amount of the fee. The circuit clerk, magistrate
clerk or municipal court clerk shall collect all fees imposed
pursuant to this subsection and deposit them in a separate account. Within ten calendar days following the beginning of the calendar
month, the circuit clerk or municipal court clerk shall forward the
amount deposited to the state treasurer to be credited to the West
Virginia community corrections fund.
(d) Beginning on the first day of July, two thousand two, in
addition to the usual court costs in any criminal case taxed
against any defendant convicted in a municipal, magistrate or
circuit court, excluding municipal parking ordinances, a
three-dollar fee shall be added. The circuit clerk, magistrate
clerk or municipal court clerk shall collect all fees imposed
pursuant to this subsection and deposit them in a separate account.
Within ten calendar days following the beginning of the calendar
month, the circuit clerk, magistrate court clerk and the municipal
court clerk shall forward the amount deposited to the state
treasurer to be credited to the West Virginia community corrections
fund.
(e) The moneys of the West Virginia community corrections fund
are to be disbursed by the governor's committee on crime,
delinquency and correction, upon recommendation by the community
corrections subcommittee, for the funding of community corrections
programs and to pay expenses of the governor's committee in
administering the provisions of this article, which expenses may
not in any fiscal year exceed ten percent of the funds deposited to
the special revenue account during that fiscal year.
(f) Any disbursements from the West Virginia community
corrections fund allocated for community corrections programs by
the governor's committee may be made contingent upon local
appropriations or gifts in money or in kind for the support of the
programs. Any county commission of any county or the governing
body of a municipality may appropriate and expend money for
establishing and maintaining community corrections programs.
(g) Nothing in this article may be construed to mandate
funding for the West Virginia community corrections fund or to
require any appropriation by the Legislature.
§62-11C-6. Community criminal justice boards.
(a) Each county or combination of counties or a county or
counties and a Class I or II municipality that seek to establish
community-based corrections services shall establish a community
criminal justice board: Provided, That if a county has not
established a community criminal justice board by the first day of
July, two thousand two, the chief probation officer of such county,
with the approval of the chief judge of the circuit, may apply for
and receive approval and funding from the governor's committee for
such programs as are authorized by the provisions of section five
of this article. Any county which chooses to operate without a
community criminal justice board shall be subject to the
regulations and requirements established by the community
corrections subcommittee and the governor's committee.
(b) The community criminal justice board is to consist of no
more than fifteen voting members.
(c) All members of the community criminal justice board are to
be residents of the county or counties represented.
(d) The community criminal justice board is to consist of the
following members:
(1) The sheriff or chief of police or, if the board represents
more than one county or municipality, at least one sheriff or chief
of police from the counties represented;
(2) The prosecutor or, if the board represents more than one
county, at least one prosecutor from the counties represented;
(3) If a public defender corporation exists in the county or
counties represented, at least one attorney employed by any public
defender corporation existing in the counties represented or, if no
public defender office exists, one criminal defense attorney from
the counties represented;
(4) One member to be appointed by the local board of education
or, if the board represents more than one county, at least one
member appointed by a board of education of the counties
represented;
(5) One member with a background in mental health care and
services to be appointed by the commission or commissions of the
county or counties represented by the board;
(6) Two members who can represent organizations or programs advocating for the rights of victims of crimes with preference
given to organizations or programs advocating for the rights of
victims of the crimes of domestic violence or driving under the
influence; and
(7) Three at-large members to be appointed by the commission
or commissions of the county or counties represented by the board.
(e) At the discretion of the West Virginia supreme court of
appeals, any or all of the following people may serve on a
community criminal justice board as ex officio, nonvoting members:
(1) A circuit judge from the county or counties represented;
(2) A magistrate from the county or counties represented; or
(3) A probation officer from the county or counties
represented.
(f) Community criminal justice boards may:
(1) Provide for the purchase, development and operation of
community corrections services;
(2) Coordinate with local probation departments in
establishing and modifying programs and services for offenders;
(3) Evaluate and monitor community corrections programs,
services and facilities to determine their impact on offenders; and
(4) Develop and apply for approval of community corrections
programs by the governor's committee on crime, delinquency and
correction.
(g) If a community criminal justice board represents more than one county, the appointed membership of the board, excluding any ex
officio members, shall include an equal number of members from each
county, unless the county commission of each county agrees in
writing otherwise.
(h) If a community criminal justice board represents more than
one county, the board shall, in consultation with the county
commission of each county represented, designate one county
commission as the fiscal agent of the board.
(i) Any political subdivision of this state operating a
community corrections program shall, regardless of whether or not
the program has been approved by the governor's committee on crime,
delinquency and correction, provide to the governor's committee
required information regarding the program's operations as required
by legislative rule.
§62-11C-7. Supervision or participation fee.
(a) A circuit judge, magistrate, municipal court judge or
community criminal justice board may require the payment of a
supervision or participation fee from any person required to be
supervised by or participate in a community corrections program.
The circuit judge, magistrate, municipal court judge or community
criminal justice board shall consider the person's ability to pay
in determining the imposition and amount of the fee.
(b) All fees ordered by the circuit court or community
criminal justice board pursuant to this section are to be paid to the circuit clerk, who shall monthly remit the fees to the
treasurer of the county designated as the fiscal agent for the
board pursuant to section six of this article. All fees ordered by
the magistrate court pursuant to this section are to be paid to the
magistrate clerk, who shall monthly remit the fees to the treasurer
of the county designated as the fiscal agent for the board pursuant
to said section. All fees ordered by the municipal court judge
pursuant to this section are to be paid to the municipal court
clerk who shall monthly remit the fees to the treasurer of the
county designated as the fiscal agent for the board pursuant to
section six of this article.