Senate Bill No. 344
(By Senators Blatnik, Craigo, Helmick,
Love, Wiedebusch, Yoder and Bowman)
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[Introduced February 8, 1996;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary;
and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article twenty, chapter thirty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to regional jail and correctional facility development fund; and payment of per diem costs for incarceration of inmates at regional jails.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article twenty, chapter thirty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AUTHORITY.

§31-20-10. Regional jail and correctional facility development fund.

(a) The regional jail and correctional facility development fund is hereby created and shall be a special account in the state treasury. The fund shall operate as a revolving fund whereby all appropriations and payments thereto may be applied and reapplied by the authority for the purposes of this article. Separate accounts may be established within the special account for the purpose of identification of various revenue resources and payment of specific obligations.
(b) Revenues deposited into the fund shall be used to make payments of interest and shall be pledged as security for bonds, security interests or notes issued or lease-purchase obligations entered into with another state entity by the authority pursuant to this article.
(c) Whenever the authority determines that the balance in the fund is in excess of the immediate requirements of this article, it may request that such excess be invested until needed. In such case such excess shall be invested in a manner consistent with the investment of the temporary state funds. Interest earned on any money invested pursuant to this section shall be credited to the fund.
(d) If the authority determines that funds held in the fund are in excess of the amount needed to carry out the purposes of this article, it shall take such action as is necessary to release such excess and transfer it to the general fund of the state treasury.
(e) The fund shall consist of the following:
(1) Amounts raised by the authority by the sale of bonds or other borrowing authorized by this article;
(2) Moneys collected and deposited in the state treasury which are specifically designated by acts of the Legislature for inclusion into the fund;
(3) Contributions, grants and gifts from any source, both public and private, which may be used by the authority for any project or projects;
(4) All sums paid by the counties pursuant to subsection (h) of this section; and
(5) All interest earned on investments made by the state from moneys deposited in this fund.
(f) The amounts deposited in the fund shall be accounted for and expended in the following manner:
(1) Amounts raised by the sale of bonds or other borrowing authorized by this article shall be deposited in a separate account within the fund and expended for the purpose of construction and renovation of correctional facilities and regional jails for which need has been determined by the authority;
(2) Amounts deposited from all other sources shall be pledged first to the debt service on any bonded indebtedness, including lease-purchase obligations entered into by the authority with another state entity or other obligation incurred by borrowing of the authority;
(3) After any requirements of debt service have been satisfied, the authority shall requisition from the fund such amounts as are necessary to provide for payment of the administrative expenses of this article;
(4) The authority shall requisition from the fund after any requirements of debt service have been satisfied such amounts as are necessary for the maintenance and operation of the correctional facilities or regional jails or both that are constructed pursuant to the plan required by this article and shall expend such amounts for such purpose. The fund shall make an accounting of all amounts received from each county by virtue of any filing fees, court costs or fines required by law to be deposited in the fund and amounts from the jail improvement funds of the various counties. After the expenses of administration have been deducted, the amounts expended in the respective regions from such sources shall be in proportion to the percentage the amount contributed to the fund by the counties in each region bears to the total amount received by the fund from such sources;
(5) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, sums paid into the fund by each county pursuant to subsection (h) of this section for each inmate shall be placed in a separate account and shall be requisitioned from the fund to pay for the costs specified in that subsection incurred at the regional jail facility at which each such inmate was incarcerated; and
(6) Any amounts deposited in the fund from other sources permitted by this article shall be expended in the respective regions based on particular needs to be determined by the authority.
(g) After a regional jail facility becomes available pursuant to this article for the incarceration of inmates, each county within the region shall incarcerate all persons whom the county would have incarcerated in any jail prior to the availability of the regional jail facility in the regional jail facility except those whose incarceration in a local jail facility used as a local holding facility is specified as appropriate under the standards and procedures developed pursuant to section nine of this article and who the sheriff or the circuit court elects to incarcerate therein.
(h) When inmates are placed in a regional jail facility pursuant to subsection (g) of this section, the county shall pay into the regional jail and correctional facility development fund a cost per day for each inmate so incarcerated to be determined by the regional jail and correctional facility authority according to criteria and by procedures established by regulations pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to cover the costs of operating the regional jail facilities of this state to maintain each such inmate which costs shall not include the cost of construction, acquisition or renovation of said regional jail facilities: Provided, That each regional jail facility operating in this state shall keep a record of the date and time of the incarceration of an inmate, and a county may not be charged for a second day of incarceration for an individual inmate until that inmate has remained incarcerated for more than twenty-four hours. Thereafter, in cases of continuous incarceration, subsequent per diem charges shall be made upon a county only as subsequent intervals of twenty-four hours pass from the original time of incarceration. The regional jail authority shall render to the counties that utilize the regional jail facilities for the incarceration of inmates a statement for the per diem costs thereof as soon after the same was incurred as practicable and it shall be the duty of the county to allow the same and cause it to be paid promptly in the manner that other claims and accounts are allowed and paid and such total amount shall constitute a debt against the local agency due the state. Whenever there is in the state treasury a sum of money due any such county from any source, upon the application of the regional jail and correctional facility authority, the same shall be at once applied on the debt aforesaid against the county and the fact of such application shall be reported by the auditor to the said county, which report shall be a receipt for the amount therein named.
(i) On and after the first day of November, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, the amounts as and when specified in section thirty-a, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code shall be paid into the regional jail and correctional facility development fund. All of the specified amounts deposited in this fund shall be pledged to the repayment of the principal and interest on any revenue bonds or refunding bonds authorized by article twenty, chapter thirty-one of this code, or any lease- purchase obligations entered into with another state entity. On or prior to the first day of January of each year, commencing the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the authority shall certify to the tax commissioner of the state the principal and interest requirements for the following fiscal year on any revenue bonds or refunding bonds issued or to be issued or lease-purchase obligations entered into or to be entered into with another state entity, on or after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, and for which moneys contained within the regional jail and correctional facility development fund have been, or will be, pledged for repayment pursuant to this section: Provided, That before the first day of November, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, the authority shall also certify to the state tax commissioner the principal and interest requirements or lease-purchase obligations entered into by the authority with another state entity for the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, on any revenue bonds or refunding bonds issued or lease-purchase obligations entered into by the authority with another state entity, by the authority on or after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four. The maximum aggregate face value of bonds that may be issued by the authority, for which moneys in the regional jail and correctional facility development fund are to be pledged, is sixty-one million dollars.
(j) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia has held that the revenue bonds authorized under the school building authority act, as enacted in article nine-d, chapter eighteen of this code prior to the twentieth day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety- three, constituted an indebtedness of the state in violation of section four, article ten of the constitution of West Virginia. The Legislature hereby further finds and declares that this section, as well as section thirty, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code have been reenacted during the second extraordinary session of the West Virginia Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, and that section thirty-a of said article has been enacted in an attempt to comply with the holding of the supreme court of appeals of West Virginia. The Legislature hereby further finds and declares that the continued construction and improvement of jail and prison facilities and the dedication of the consumers sales tax pursuant to said section to finance such construction and improvement are for the use and benefit of the state, its counties, its municipalities and its other political subdivisions, and such construction and improvement serves the vital public purpose of assuring the physical safety of each citizen and the public at large. The Legislature hereby further finds and declares that it intends, through the reenactment of this section and section thirty, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code and the enactment of section thirty-a of said article to dedicate a source of state revenue to a special fund for the purpose of paying a portion of the debt service on bonds and refunding bonds issued and lease-purchase obligations entered into by the authority with another state entity, subsequent to the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, the proceeds of which will be utilized for the construction and improvement of jail and prison facilities. The Legislature hereby further finds and declares that it intends, through the reenactment of this section and section thirty, article fifteen, chapter eleven of this code, and the enactment of section thirty-a of said article to comply with the provisions of section four, article ten; section six, article ten; section six-a, article ten; and section one, article twelve of the constitution of West Virginia.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a mechanism whereby the regional jail and correctional facility authority can, upon application to the auditor, apply funds in the state treasury due a county against that county's debt to the authority for the per diem costs of inmate incarceration in regional jail facilities.

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

This bill is recommended for passage during the 1996 regular session by the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jails and Correctional Facility Authority.