COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 130
(By Senators Bowman, Ross, Buckalew, Anderson,
Dittmar, Yoder, Whitlow, Helmick, Sharpe, Blatnik,
Kimble, Schoonover, Love, Minear and Walker)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 14, 1996.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three, four, five, six,
seven and eight, article eight-f, chapter sixty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended; to further amend said article by adding thereto a
new section, designated section nine; and to amend and reenact
section eight, article eleven-a of said chapter, all relating
to requiring sex offender registration and notification;
expanding crimes for which persons are required to register;
expanding information included in registration; designating
state police as agency to register such persons; requiring
state police to maintain central register; distributing
information provided at registration; permitting state police
to furnish information to other law-enforcement and
governmental agencies; providing for limited immunity for distribution of information; removing requirement that offense
be second offense; listing duties of officials to obtain
written acknowledgement of duty to register; release of
information when person moves out-of-state; failure to
register; penalties for failure to register; registration of
out-of-state offenders; and expansion of victim notification.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight,
article eight-f, 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
a new section, designated section nine; and that section eight,
article eleven-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 8F. SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT.
*§61-8F-2. Registration.
(a) Any person who has been convicted of a violation of the
provisions of article eight-b, eight-c or eight-d of this chapter,
or of section fourteen, article two, or of section thirteen,
article eight of this chapter, or of a similar provision in another
jurisdiction or similar provisions in another jurisdiction shall,
within thirty days of his or her moving into any county in which he
or she resides or is temporarily domiciled for more than thirty
days, register with the division of public safety. shall be
required to be registered as set forth in this article. Any person who has been convicted of an attempt to commit any of the offenses
set forth in this section shall also be required to register as set
forth in this article.
(b) On the date that any person convicted of the crimes listed
herein is released, is granted probation, is granted a suspended
sentence, is released on parole or probation, or is ordered to be
placed on home detention, the commissioner of corrections, regional
jail supervisor or city sheriff operating a jail which releases
such person and any parole or probation officer who releases such
person or supervises such person following the release shall obtain
all information required by this subsection prior to the release of
the person and shall send written notice of the release of the
person to the state police. The notice shall include:
(1) The full name of the person;
(2) The address that the person shall reside;
(3) The person's social security number;
(4) A recent photograph of the person; and
(5) A brief description of the crime for which the person was
convicted.
(c) At the time the person is convicted of the crimes set
forth in subsection (a) of this section, the person shall sign in
open court, a statement acknowledging that he or she understands
the requirements imposed by this article. The court shall inform
the person so convicted of the requirements to register imposed by
this article and shall further satisfy itself by interrogation of the defendant or his or her counsel that the defendant has received
notice of the provisions of this article and that the defendant
understands such provisions. Such statement, when signed and
witnessed shall constitute prima facie evidence that the person had
knowledge of the requirements of this article.
(d) When a person required to register under this article is
released following incarceration, the commissioner of corrections,
the regional jail supervisor or the city sheriff or any other
person supervising the operation of the place of confinement shall
inform the state police of such release and provide such further
information as is required by this article.
(e) The state police shall maintain a central registry of all
persons who register under this article and shall release
information only as provided in this article.
§61-8F-3. Change of address.
When any person required to register under this article
changes his or her residence or address, he or she shall inform the
division of public safety West Virginia state police of his or her
new address, in writing, within ten days.
§61-8F-4. Duration.
Any person required to register under this article shall be
required to do so for a period of ten years after conviction for
the second offense defined herein if not imprisoned, and if
imprisoned, for a period of ten years after release from prison by
discharge or parole. A person is no longer required to register at the expiration of ten years from the date of initial registration,
when that convicted person is not otherwise required, during such
period, to register.
§61-8F-5. Confidentiality. Distribution of information.
(a) Within five working days after receiving any notification
as described in this article, the state police shall distribute a
copy of the notification statement to:
(1) The supervisor of each county and municipal law-
enforcement officer in the city and county where the person will
reside;
(2) The county superintendent of schools where the person will
reside;
(3) The child protective services office charged with
investigating allegations of child abuse or neglect in the county
where the person will reside; and
(4) All community organizations or religious organizations
which regularly provide services to youths in the county where the
person will reside.
(b) The information and documentation required in connection
with the registration shall not be open to inspection by the
public, or by any person other than a regularly employed peace or
other law-enforcement officer acting in his or her capacity as a
law-enforcement officer. may be provided to any other person upon
application to the circuit court in the county where an applicant
seeking the information resides, when that court finds that the information is sufficiently relevant to public safety to outweigh
the importance of maintaining confidentiality of this article.
When the court orders the release of that information, the court
shall further order to what extent the applicant may provide for
the release of the information to third parties.
(c) The state police may furnish information and documentation
required in connection with the registration to authorized law-
enforcement and governmental agencies of the United States and its
territories, of foreign countries duly authorized to receive the
same, of other states within the United States and of the state of
West Virginia upon proper request stating that the records will be
used solely for law-enforcement related purposes.
(d) An elected public official, public employee or public
agency is immune from civil liability for damages arising out of
any action relating to the provisions of this section except when
the official, employee or agency acted with gross negligence or in
bad faith.
§61-8F-6. Duties of institution officials.
In addition to the duties imposed by sections two and four of
this article, Any, any person required to register under this
article, before parole or release, shall be informed of their duty
to register by the official in charge of the place of confinement.
Further, the official shall obtain a statement signed by the person
acknowledging the receipt of the written statement regarding the
request to register.
§61-8F-7. Information may be shared with other law-enforcement
agencies. Information shall be released when person moves out
of state.
The division of public safety may share information gathered
pursuant to this article with federal, state and local law-
enforcement agencies in this state and other states in the course
of their official duties.
When a person who is required to register pursuant to the
provisions of this article notifies any law-enforcement official or
corrections official, that he or she is moving to another state,
the official shall notify law-enforcement officials where the
person indicates he or she shall reside of the information provided
by the person under the provisions of this article.
§61-8F-8. Failure to register; penalty.
Any person required to register under this article who
knowingly violates any of the provisions thereof knowingly fails to
register or knowingly fails to provide a change of address as
required by this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor
more than five hundred five thousand dollars, or imprisoned in the
county jail not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned:
Provided, That each time such person changes residence and fails
to register, such failure shall constitute a separate offense.
§61-8F-9. Registration of out-of-state offenders.
When any probation or parole officer accepts supervision of and has legal authority over any person required to register under
this article from another state under the terms and conditions of
the uniform act for out-of-state parolee supervision established
under article six, chapter twenty-eight of this code, such officer
shall give the person written notice of the registration
requirements of this section and obtain a signed statement from the
person required to register acknowledging the receipt of the
notice.
ARTICLE 11A. VICTIM PROTECTION ACT OF 1984.
§61-11A-8. Victim notification of defendant's release.
(a) At the time a complaint is sworn out and again at the time
when any person is convicted for a charge of murder, aggravated
robbery, sexual assault in the first degree, kidnapping, arson,
sexual offenses against minors or any violent crime against a
spouse, former spouse, child or stepchild, the prosecuting attorney
shall provide written notice to the victim or victim's family
member that he or she may be notified prior to and upon the release
or to escape of the defendant to from confinement in any
correctional facility, work release, home confinement, probation,
parole, furlough or upon the escape of the defendant from any
correctional facility. The notice shall include instructions on
how to request the notification.
(b) The commissioner of corrections, regional jail
supervisors, city or sheriff operating a jail which releases any
person shall, from which they have received a written request for notification, provide written notice to the last known address or
addresses provided by the victim, or in the case of a minor child,
to the custodial parent of the child, upon release of the
defendant. Additionally, notice provided in the case of escape
shall be by telephone.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the registry for
sex offenders and to modify provisions to insure compliance with
registration requirements
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Section nine is new and therefore strike-throughs have been
omitted.)