H. B. 4011


(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chambers, and Delegate Burk)
(By Request of the Executive)
[Introduced January 13, 1994; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]



A BILL to amend and reenact sections three, four, nine, ten-b, twelve and fifteen, article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections three-a and ten-c; to amend article five of said chapter by adding thereto a new section, designated section seventeen-a; to amend and reenact section fifteen, article three, chapter sixty-two of said code; and to amend and reenact section thirteen, article twelve of said chapter, all relating to the definition of various crimes and the terms of incarceration for said crimes; penalty for murder of second degree; penalty for murder of a police officer, correctional officer or correctional employee; voluntary manslaughter; penalty; malicious or unlawful assault; assault; battery; penalties; malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery and recidivism of battery; assault on police officers, conservation officers, county or state correctional officers, and other public safety officials; penalties; malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery and recidivism of battery; assault on state constitutional officers; penalties; robbery or attempted robbery; bank robbery and assaults in committing or attempting; penalties; assault, battery on school employees; penalties; failure to comply with order or signal of police officer; penalty; verdict and sentence in murder cases; powers and duties of board; eligibility for parole; and procedure for granting parole.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That sections three, four, nine, ten-b, twelve and fifteen of article two of chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that said article be further amended by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections three-a and ten-c; that article five of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section seventeen-a; that section fifteen, article three, chapter sixty-two of said code be amended and reenacted, and that section thirteen, article twelve of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 61. CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT.

ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.

§ 61 - 2 - 3. Penalty for murder of second degree.

Murder of the second degree shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than five fifteen nor more than eighteen fifty years.

§ 61 - 2 - 3a. Penalty for murder of a police officer, correctional officer or correctional employee.

Notwithstanding any provision of sections two and three of this article to the contrary, and notwithstanding any provision of section thirteen of article twelve of chapter sixty-two or section fifteen of article three of chapter sixty-two to the contrary, the penalty for the murder of any police officer, correctional officer, or employee of the division of corrections, whether such murder is of the first or second degree, shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary for life without possibility of parole. As used in this section, a police officer means any officer employed by the division of public safety, any conservation officer employed by the division of natural resources, any county law-enforcement employee or any police officer employed by any city or municipality who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of this state.

§ 61 - 2 - 4. Voluntary manslaughter; penalty.

Voluntary manslaughter shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than one ten nor more than five twenty-five years.

§ 61 - 2 - 9. Malicious or unlawful assault; assault; battery; penalties.

(a) If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut or wound any person, or by any means cause him bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill, he shall, except where it is otherwise provided, be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than two ten nor more than ten twenty-five years. If such act be done unlawfully, but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, the offender shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall in the discretion of the court, either be confined in the penitentiary not less than one five nor more than five fifteen years. or be confined in jail not exceeding twelve months and fined not exceeding five hundred dollars

(b) Assault. -- If any person unlawfully attempts to commit a violent injury to the person of another or unlawfully commits an act which places another in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail for not less than three months nor more than six months, or and fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars. or both such fine and imprisonment
(c) Battery. -- If any person unlawfully and intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with the person of another or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to another person, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail for not less than six months nor more than twelve months, or and fined not more than five hundred thousand dollars. or both such fine and imprisonment If any person commits a second such offense, then such person is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years and fined not more than ten thousand dollars.
§ 61-2-10b. Malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery and recidivism of battery; assault on police officers, conservation officers, county or state correctional officers, and other public safety officials; penalties.

(a) Malicious assault. -- If any person maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a police officer, county correctional officer, or state correctional officer, or other public safety official acting in his or her official capacity and the person committing the malicious assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer, or state correctional officer, or other public safety official acting in his or her official capacity, then the offender shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than three ten nor more than fifteen twenty years.

(b) Unlawful assault. -- If any person unlawfully but not maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer, state correctional officer, or other public safety official acting in his or her official capacity or state correctional officer bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill said officer or official and the person committing the unlawful assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer, or state correctional officer, or other public safety official acting in his or her official capacity, then the offender is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined to the penitentiary for a period of not less than two five years nor more than five ten years.
(c) Battery. -- If any person unlawfully and intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer, or state correctional officer, or other public safety official acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer, or state correctional officer, or other public safety official acting in such capacity, said person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined to the county or regional jail for a period of not less than forty-eight hours six months nor more than twelve months or and fined the sum of five hundred thousand dollars. or both If any person commits a second such offense, then such person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the county or regional jail for a period of not less than ten days nor more than twelve months. Any person who commits a third violation of this section is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years or and fined not more than one ten thousand dollars. or both
(d) Assault. -- If any person unlawfully attempts to commit a violent injury to the person of a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer, or state correctional officer, or other public safety official, or unlawfully commits an act which places a police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer, or state correctional officer, or other public safety official acting in his or her official capacity in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the county or regional jail for not less than twenty-four hours three months nor more than six months, or and fined not more than two hundred one thousand dollars. or both such fine and imprisonment
(e) Police officer and public safety official defined. -- As used in this section, a police officer means any officer employed by the division of public safety, any conservation officer employed by the division of natural resources, any county law-enforcement agency employee or any police officer employed by any city or municipality who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of this state. As used in this section, a public safety official means any county prosecutor or assistant county prosecutor, any magistrate, any municipal judge, any professional fireman, any volunteer fireman, or any emergency medical technician. In interpreting the application of this section, it shall not matter to any successful prosecution under this section whether the police officer or public safety official was employed in either a full-time or part-time capacity, or whether the police officer or public safety official was under contract to perform his or her duties.
§ 61-2-10c. Malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery and recidivism of battery; assault on state constitutional officers; penalties.

(a) Malicious assault. -- If any person maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a state constitutional officer acting in his or her official capacity and the person committing the malicious assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a state constitutional officer acting in his or her official capacity, then the offender shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than ten nor more than twenty years.

(b) Unlawful assault. -- If any person unlawfully but not maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a state constitutional officer acting in his or her official capacity bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill said officer and the person committing the unlawful assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a state constitutional officer acting in his or her official capacity, then the offender is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined to the penitentiary for a period of not less than five years nor more than ten years.
(c) Battery. -- If any person unlawfully and intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with a state constitutional officer acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to a state constitutional officer acting in such capacity, said person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined to the county or regional jail for a period of not less than six months nor more than twelve months and fined the sum of five thousand dollars. If any person commits a second such offense, then such person is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years and fined not more than ten thousand dollars.
(d) Assault. -- If any person unlawfully attempts to commit a violent injury to the person of a state constitutional officer or unlawfully commits an act which places a state constitutional officer acting in his or her official capacity in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the county or regional jail for not less than three months nor more than six months, and fined not more than one thousand dollars.
(e) State constitutional officer defined. -- As used in this section, a state constitutional officer means any state official whose title, powers or duties are defined in the provisions of the constitution of West Virginia, as ratified in the year one thousand eight hundred seventy-two, together with the several ratified amendments to that constitution.
§ 61 - 2 - 12. Robbery or attempted robbery; bank robbery and assaults in committing or attempting; penalties.

If any person commit, or attempt to commit, robbery by partial strangulation or suffocation, or by striking or beating, or by other violence to the person, or by the threat or presenting of firearms, or other deadly weapon or instrumentality whatsoever, he shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than ten fifteen years nor more than fifty years. If any person commit, or attempt to commit, a robbery in any other mode or by any other means, except as provided for in the succeeding paragraph of this section, he shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than five nor more than eighteen years.

If any person (a) by force and violence, or by putting in fear, feloniously takes, or feloniously attempts to take, from the person or presence of another any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management or possession of, any bank, he shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than ten nor more than twenty years; and if any person (b), in committing, or in attempting to commit, any offense defined in the preceding clause (a) of this paragraph, assaults any person, or puts in jeopardy the life of any person by the use of a dangerous weapon or device, he shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than ten years nor more than twenty-five years.
§ 61 - 2 - 15. Assault, battery on school employees; penalties.

(a) If any person commits an assault by unlawfully attempting to commit a violent injury to the person of a school employee or by unlawfully committing an act which places a school employee in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than five days nor more than six months and fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.

(b) If any person commits a battery by unlawfully and intentionally making physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with the person of a school employee or by unlawfully and intentionally causing physical harm to a school employee, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than ten days nor more than twelve months and fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(a) Malicious assault. -- If any person maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a school employee acting in his or her official capacity and the person committing the malicious assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a school employee acting in his or her official capacity, then the offender shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than ten nor more than twenty years.
(b) Unlawful assault. -- If any person unlawfully but not maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a school employee acting in his or her official capacity bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill said employee and the person committing the unlawful assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a school employee acting in his or her official capacity, then the offender is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined to the penitentiary for a period of not less than five years nor more than ten years.
(c) Battery. -- If any person unlawfully and intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with a school employee acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to a school employee acting in such capacity, said person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined to the county or regional jail for a period of not less than six months nor more than twelve months and fined the sum of five thousand dollars. If any person commits a second such offense, then such person is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years and fined not more than ten thousand dollars.
(d) Assault. -- If any person unlawfully attempts to commit a violent injury to the person of a school employee or unlawfully commits an act which places a school employee acting in his or her official capacity in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the county or regional jail for not less than three months nor more than six months, and fined not more than one thousand dollars.
(c) (e) For the purposes of this section, "school employee" means a person employed by a county board of education whether employed on a regular full-time basis, a part-time basis, an hourly basis, a contract basis, or otherwise if, at the time of the commission of any offense provided for in this section, such person is engaged in the performance of his or her duties or is commuting to or from his or her place of employment. For the purposes of this section, a "school employee" shall be deemed to include a student teacher.
ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.

§ 61 - 5 - 17a. Failure to comply with order or signal of police officer; penalty.

(a) No person shall fail to comply with any lawful order or direction of any police officer invested with authority to direct, control or regulate traffic.

(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle so as willfully to elude or flee a police officer after receiving a visible or audible signal from a police officer to bring his motor vehicle to a stop.
(c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer. A violation of paragraph (a) of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by one to six months in a county or regional jail and a fine of one thousand dollars. A violation of paragraph (b) of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by one to six months in a county or regional jail and a fine of one thousand dollars, except that a violation of paragraph (b) of this section is a felony punishable by one to three years and a fine of five thousand dollars if the jury or judge as trier of fact finds any one of the following by proof beyond a reasonable doubt:
(i) In committing the offense, the offender was fleeing immediately after the commission of a felony; or
(ii) The operation of the motor vehicle by the offender was a proximate cause of serious physical harm to persons or property; or
(iii) The operation of the motor vehicle by the offender caused a substantial risk of serious physical harm to persons or property.
(d) As used in this section, "police officer" has the same meaning as in section ten-b of article two of chapter sixty-one of this code.
CHAPTER 62. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE.

ARTICLE 3. TRIAL OF CRIMINAL CASES.

§ 62 - 3 - 15. Verdict and sentence in murder cases.

If a person indicted for murder be found by the jury guilty thereof, they shall in their verdict find whether he is guilty of murder of the first degree or second degree. If the person indicted for murder is found by the jury guilty thereof, and if the jury find in their verdict that he is guilty of murder of the first degree, or if a person indicted for murder pleads guilty of murder of the first degree, he shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary for life, and he, notwithstanding the provisions of article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code, shall not be eligible for parole: Provided, That the jury may, in their discretion, except when the murder is that of a police officer as defined in section three-a of article two of chapter sixty-one of this code, recommend mercy, and if such recommendation is added to their verdict, such person shall be eligible for parole in accordance with the provisions of said article twelve: Provided, however, That if the accused pleads guilty of murder of the first degree, the court may, in its discretion, except when the murder is that of a police officer as defined in section three-a of article two of chapter sixty-one of this code, provide that such person shall be eligible for parole in accordance with the provisions of said article twelve, and, if the court so provides, such person shall be eligible for parole in accordance with the provisions of said article twelve in the same manner and with like effect as if such person had been found guilty by the verdict of a jury and the jury had recommended mercy.

ARTICLE 12. PROBATION AND PAROLE.

§ 62 - 12 - 13. Powers and duties of board; eligibility for parole; procedure for granting parole.

(a) The board of parole, whenever it is of the opinion that the best interests of the state and of the prisoner will be subserved thereby, and subject to the limitations hereinafter provided, shall release any such prisoner on parole for such terms and upon such conditions as are provided by this article. Any prisoner of a penitentiary of this state, to be eligible for parole:

(1)(A) Shall have served the minimum term of his or her indeterminate sentence, or shall have served one fourth of his or her definite term sentence, as the case may be, except that in no case shall any person who committed, or attempted to commit a felony with the use, presentment or brandishing of a firearm, be eligible for parole prior to serving a minimum of three seven years of his or her sentence or the maximum sentence imposed by the court, whichever is less: Provided, That any person who committed, or attempted to commit, any violation of section twelve, article two, chapter sixty-one of this code, with the use, presentment or brandishing of a firearm, shall not be eligible for parole prior to serving a minimum of five seven years of his or her sentence or one third of his or her definite term sentence, whichever shall be the greater. Nothing in this section shall apply to an accessory before the fact or a principal in the second degree who has been convicted as if he or she were a principal in the first degree if, in the commission of or in the attempted commission of the felony, only the principal in the first degree used, presented or brandished a firearm. No person is ineligible for parole under the provisions of this subdivision because of the commission or attempted commission of a felony with the use, presentment or brandishing of a firearm unless such fact is clearly stated and included in the indictment or presentment by which such person was charged and was either (i) found by the court at the time of trial upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or (ii) found by the jury, upon submitting to such jury a special interrogatory for such purpose if the matter was tried before a jury, or (iii) found by the court, if the matter was tried by the court without a jury.
For the purpose of this section, the term "firearm" shall mean any instrument which will, or is designed to, or may readily be converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, gunpowder or any other similar means.
(B) The amendments to this subsection adopted in the year one thousand nine hundred eighty-one:
(i) Shall apply to all applicable offenses occurring on or after the first day of August of that year;
(ii) Shall apply with respect to the contents of any indictment or presentment returned on or after the first day of August of that year irrespective of when the offense occurred;
(iii) Shall apply with respect to the submission of a special interrogatory to the jury and the finding to be made thereon in any case submitted to such jury on or after the first day of August of that year or to the requisite findings of the court upon a plea of guilty or in any case tried without a jury: Provided, That the state shall give notice in writing of its intent to seek such finding by the jury or court, as the case may be, which notice shall state with particularity the grounds upon which such finding shall be sought as fully as such grounds are otherwise required to be stated in an indictment, unless the grounds therefor are alleged in the indictment or presentment upon which the matter is being tried;
(iv) Shall not apply with respect to cases not affected by such amendment and in such cases the prior provisions of this section shall apply and be construed without reference to such amendment.
Insofar as such amendments relate to mandatory sentences restricting the eligibility for parole, all such matters requiring such sentence shall be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in all cases tried by the jury or the court.
(2) Shall not be under punishment or in solitary confinement for any infraction of prison rules;
(3) Shall have maintained a record of good conduct in prison for a period of at least three months immediately preceding the date of his or her release on parole;
(4) Shall have submitted to the board a written parole release plan setting forth proposed plans for his or her place of residence, employment and, if appropriate, his or her plans regarding education and post-release counseling and treatment, said parole release plan having been approved by the commissioner of corrections or his or her authorized representative;
(5) Shall have satisfied the board that if released on parole he or she will not constitute a danger to the community.
Except in the case of one serving a life sentence, no person who has been previously twice convicted of a felony may be released on parole until he or she has served the minimum term provided by law for the crime for which he or she was convicted. No person sentenced for life may be paroled until he or she has served ten twenty years, and no person sentenced for life who has been previously twice convicted of a felony may be paroled until he or she has served fifteen thirty years. In the case of a person sentenced to any penal institution of this state, it shall be the duty of the board, as soon as such person becomes eligible, to consider the advisability of his or her release on parole. If, upon such consideration, parole be denied, the board shall at least once a year reconsider and review the case of every prisoner so eligible, which reconsideration and review shall be by the entire board. If parole be denied, the prisoner shall be promptly notified.
(b) In the case of any person sentenced to or confined under sentence in any city or county jail in this state, the board shall act only upon written application for parole. If such jail prisoner is under sentence on a felony conviction, the provisions hereof relating to penitentiary prisoners shall apply to and control his or her release on parole. If such person is serving time on a misdemeanor conviction, he or she is eligible for parole consideration, upon receipt of his or her written parole application and after time for probation release by the sentencing court or judge has expired.
(c) The board shall, with the approval of the governor, adopt rules and regulations governing the procedure in the granting of parole. No provision of this article and none of the rules and regulations adopted hereunder are intended or shall be construed to contravene, limit or otherwise interfere with or affect the authority of the governor to grant pardons and reprieves, commute sentences, remit fines or otherwise exercise his or her constitutional powers of executive clemency.
The board shall be charged with the duty of supervising all probationers and parolees whose supervision may have been undertaken by this state by reason of any interstate compact entered into pursuant to the uniform act for out of state parolee supervision.
(d) When considering a penitentiary prisoner for release on parole, the board of parole shall have before it an authentic copy of or report on the prisoner's current criminal record as provided through the department of public safety of West Virginia, the United States department of justice or other reliable criminal information sources and written reports of the warden or superintendent of the penitentiary, as the case may be, to which such prisoner is sentenced:
(1) On the prisoner's conduct record while in prison, including a detailed statement showing any and all infractions of prison rules by the prisoner and the nature and extent of discipline and punishment administered therefor;
(2) On improvement or other changes noted in the prisoner's mental and moral condition while in prison, including a statement expressive of the prisoner's current attitude toward society in general, toward the judge who sentenced him or her, toward the prosecuting attorney who prosecuted him or her, toward the policeman or other officer who arrested the prisoner and toward the crime for which he or she is under sentence and his or her previous criminal record;
(3) On the prisoner's industrial record while in prison, showing the nature of his or her prison work or occupation and the average number of hours per day he or she has been employed in prison industry and recommending the nature and kinds of employment which he or she is best fitted to perform and in which the prisoner is most likely to succeed when he or she leaves prison;
(4) On physical, mental and psychiatric examinations of the prisoner conducted, insofar as practicable, within the two months next preceding parole consideration by the board.
The board may waive the requirement of any such report when not available or not applicable as to any prisoner considered for parole but, in every such case, shall enter in the record thereof its reason for such waiver: Provided, That in the case of a prisoner who is incarcerated because such prisoner has been found guilty of, or has pleaded guilty to a felony under the provisions of section twelve, article eight, chapter sixty-one of this code or under the provisions of article eight-b or eight-c of chapter sixty-one, the board may not waive the report required by this subsection and the report shall include a study and diagnosis which shall include an on-going treatment plan requiring active participation in sexual abuse counseling at an approved mental health facility or through some other approved program: Provided, however, That nothing disclosed by the person during such study or diagnosis shall be made available to any law-enforcement agency, or other party without that person's consent, or admissible in any court of this state, unless such information disclosed shall indicate the intention or plans of the parolee to do harm to any person, animal, institution, or to property. Progress reports of outpatient treatment shall be made at least every six months to the parole officer supervising such person. In addition, in such cases, the parole board shall inform the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the person was convicted of the parole hearing and shall request that the prosecuting attorney inform the parole board of the circumstances surrounding a conviction or plea of guilty, plea bargaining and other background information that might be useful in its deliberations. The board shall also notify the victim, or the parents or guardian of the victim if the victim is still a minor, of the person being considered for parole in such a case.
Before releasing any penitentiary prisoner on parole, the board of parole shall arrange for the prisoner to appear in person before the board and the board may examine and interrogate him or her on any matters pertaining to his or her parole, including reports before the board made pursuant to the provisions hereof. The board shall reach its own written conclusions as to the desirability of releasing such prisoner on parole. The warden or superintendent shall furnish all necessary assistance and cooperate to the fullest extent with the board of parole. All information, records and reports received by the board shall be kept on permanent file.
The board and its designated agents shall at all times have access to inmates imprisoned in any penal or correctional institutions of this state or in any city or county jail in this state, and shall have the power to obtain any information or aid necessary to the performance of their duties from other departments and agencies of the state or from any political subdivision thereof.
The board shall, if so requested by the governor, investigate and consider all applications for pardon, reprieve or commutation and shall make recommendation thereon to the governor.
Prior to making such recommendation and prior to releasing any penitentiary person on parole, the board shall notify the sentencing judge and prosecuting attorney at least ten days before such recommendation or parole. Any person released on parole shall participate as a condition of parole in the litter control program of the county to the extent directed by the board, unless the board specifically finds that this alternative service would be inappropriate.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the penalty for second degree murder, for voluntary manslaughter; for malicious or unlawful assault, assault and battery; for assault or battery of police officers, conservation officers, county or state correctional officers and other public safety officials; for robbery or attempted robbery; and for assault or battery of a school employee. New crimes and penalties are created for the murder of a police officer, correctional officer or correctional employee; for assault or battery of state constitutional officers; and for failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer. The minimum sentence that must be served by persons sentenced for life before being eligible for parole has been doubled.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

§§61-2-3a and 10c and §61-5-17a are new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.