H. B. 2153
(By Delegates Caputo, Staton, Perdue, Tucker and Stalnaker)
[Introduced February 10, 2005; referred to the
Committee on The Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §31-20-27 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the regional jail
and correctional facility authority; correctional officers
employed by the authority at regional jails and the northern
regional jail and correctional facility; and civil service
coverage of same.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section §31-20-27 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY AUTHORITY.
§31-20-27. Correctional officers; regional jails; priority of
hiring; civil service coverage.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the authority, when employing correctional officers to complete the approved staffing plan of a regional jail completed
after the effective date of this section, shall employ any
correctional officer applying for a position as a correctional
officer at a regional jail who was employed in good standing at a
county jail facility in the region at the time of its closing or
at a
prison correctional facility operated by the Division of
Corrections:
Provided, That the regional jail is located within
the same region as the
prison correctional facility that was
closed due to relocation of the
prison correctional facility to a
site outside the region. Only those correctional officers, who
are employees in good standing at the time the
prison
correctional facility is closed, are eligible for transfer under
the provisions of this subsection. Correctional officers,
employed under the provisions of this subsection, shall be
employed at a salary and with benefits consistent with the
approved plan of compensation of the Division of Personnel,
created under section five, article six, chapter twenty-nine of
this code. All correctional officers employed under this
subsection shall also be covered by the policies and procedures
of the education and state employees grievance board, created
under section five, article six-a, chapter twenty-nine of this
code.
and the classified-exempt service protection policies of
the division of personnel
(b) The authority shall, when employing correctional officers to fill positions within the approved staffing plan of
any regional jail, employ any correctional officer applying for a
position as a correctional officer at a regional jail who was
previously employed as a correctional officer in good standing at
any local jail facility:
Provided, That the local jail facility
is located within the same region as the regional jail at the
time of the local jail facility's closing or reduction in size
and was reduced in size or closed prior to or due to the
completion of the regional jail within the region. Correctional
officers employed under the provisions of this subsection shall
be employed at a salary and with benefits consistent with the
approved plan of compensation of the Division of Personnel,
created under section five, article six, chapter twenty-nine of
this code. Only those county correctional officers who are
employees in good standing at the time the local jail facility is
closed are eligible for transfer under the provisions of this
subsection. All correctional officers employed under this
subsection shall also be covered by the policies and procedures
of the education and state employees grievance board created
under section five, article six-a, chapter twenty-nine of this
code.
and the classified-exempt service protection of the
division of personnel
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, on and after the first day of July, two thousand five, any person then employed or to be employed by the Regional Jail
and Correctional Facility Authority as a correctional officer in
a regional jail or at the Northern Regional Jail and Correctional
Facility shall, within the limitations contained in section two,
article six, chapter twenty-nine of this code, be placed in the
civil service system as a covered employee.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that, on and
after July 1, 2005, correctional officers employed by the
Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority and the
Northern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility be transferred
into the civil service system as covered employees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.