Senate Bill No. 131
(By Senators Whitlow, Anderson, Blatnik, Ross,
Helmick, Yoder, Minear, Kimble, Sharpe, Schoonover,
Dugan, Deem, Miller, Buckalew, Love and Plymale)
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[Introduced January 24, 1996;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-three, article twelve,
chapter sixty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
notification of parole hearing or release date to victim or
immediate family member; and opportunity of same upon
request to be heard by board at parole hearing.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-three, article twelve, chapter sixty-two
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-
one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. PROBATION AND PAROLE.
§62-12-23. Notification of parole hearing or release date to
victim or member of immediate family.
At the time of sentencing following a conviction for murder,
aggravated robbery, sexual assault in the first degree,
kidnapping, arson or sexual offenses against minors, the prosecuting attorney shall present, in writing, to the victims or
immediate family members of deceased victims of murder or of
victims who are minors, a document specifying that the victim or
immediate family members has the right to notification prior to
the time of a parole hearing and release date. The notice
provided by the prosecutor shall specify the method to request
notification from the board.
Upon request in writing to the board, the victims or
immediate family members of deceased victims of murder or victims
who are minors, the board shall provide the requesting party an
opportunity to be heard at the parole hearing regarding the
impact of the crime on the victim and their immediate family, and
their sentiment regarding the release on parole of the inmate.
At least thirty sixty days prior to the date of release or
the date that a parole hearing is to be held for an inmate who is
in the custody of the commissioner of corrections, the board of
probation and parole shall notify the victim or victims of the
offense for which the inmate is incarcerated of the hearing and
release date. If a victim is deceased, or a minor, notification
of the date of the hearing and release shall be made to a member
of the victim's immediate family. The notification set forth in
this section shall be required to be sent only to victims or
family members of victims who are minors and deceased victims of
the offenses of murder, aggravated robbery, sexual assault in the
first degree, kidnapping, arson and sexual offenses against minors, and only if the victim or victim's immediate family
member has, in writing to the board, requested that such notice
be sent. Notice stating the date, time and location of the
parole hearing and the release date shall be sent by certified
mail, return receipt requested.
In the event the board of parole releases an inmate, the
board shall notify the victim or the victim's immediate family,
if the victim is deceased or a minor, of the release of the
inmate at least thirty days before his or her release date. This
notification is required to be sent only to victims or the
immediate family members of victims who are minors or deceased
victims of the offenses of murder, aggravated robbery, sexual
assault in the first degree, kidnapping, arson and sexual
offenses against minors, and only where the victim or a victim's
immediate family member has requested in writing that the board
send notice of the inmate's release date. This notice shall be
sent by certified mail, return receipt requested.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that, upon
request, the board of probation and parole must send notice of an
inmate's parole hearing and release date to the inmate's victims
or, in cases of deceased victims or victims who are minors, to
the victim's immediate family. It also requires an opportunity
for victims or the immediate family thereof to be heard at an
inmate's parole hearing.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.