Senate Bill No. 371
(By Senators Blatnik, Bowman, Wiedebusch and Macnaughtan)
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[Introduced February 13, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections one and three, article one,
chapter twenty-five of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend
and reenact section one, article five, chapter twenty-eight
of said code, all relating to the commissioner of the
division of corrections; powers and duties; the penitentiary
at Moundsville; providing that the former penitentiary
remain under the commissioner's jurisdiction and control,
provided that he or she maintain it and keep it secure until
authorized by the Legislature to sell or transfer it and
that he or she report to the Legislature by the first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, as to the feasibility of renovating that facility for renewed use as
a correctional facility; and updating certain terms.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and three, article one, chapter twenty-
five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that
section one, article five, chapter twenty-eight of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 25. DIVISION OF CORRECTIONS.
ARTICLE 1. ORGANIZATION AND INSTITUTIONS.
§25-1-1. Office of commissioner of public institutions
abolished; division and commissioner of
corrections established; qualifications, oath and
bond.
The office of state commissioner of public institutions is
hereby abolished, and, except as otherwise provided in this
chapter, its powers and authority are transferred to the
department divisionÆ of corrections which is hereby established.
Whenever in this code reference is made to the state commissioner
of public institutions, it shall be construed to mean the department commissioner of the division of corrections.
The executive and administrative head of the department
division of corrections shall be a commissioner who shall be
appointed, dismissed and paid in accordance with the provisions
of section two-a, article seven, chapter six of this code.
The commissioner shall take and subscribe to the oath
prescribed by the constitution for public officials and shall
execute an official bond in a penalty of fifteen thousand
dollars, conditioned as required by law. Premiums on such bond
shall be paid from appropriations made for the commissioner's
office. Such bond shall be approved as to form by the attorney
general and as to sufficiency by the governor and, when fully
executed and approved, shall be filed in the office of the
secretary of state.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to give
the commissioner of corrections any authority in the
administration, management or control of mental institutions
heretofore transferred to the department of mental health by an
act of the Legislature, regular session, one thousand nine
hundred fifty-seven under the jurisdiction of the state bureau
of public health.
§25-1-3. Institutions managed by commissioner of corrections;
certain institutions transferred to department of
health and human resources and state board of
health; establishment of work and study release
units; civil service coverage.
The commissioner of corrections shall manage, direct,
control and govern the following penal or correctional
institutions and any others placed under his jurisdiction or
control:
West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville, subject to the
provisions of section one, article five, chapter twenty-eight of
this code;
Mount Olive Correctional Complex at Mount Olive;
West Virginia State Prison for Women at Pence Springs;
West Virginia Medium Security Prison at Huttonsville;
West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls Youth at Salem;
West Virginia Industrial Home for Boys The Pruntytown
Correctional Center at Grafton;
Davis Center (formerly the West Virginia Forestry Camp for
Boys at Davis);
Leckie Center (formerly the West Virginia Forestry Camp for
Boys at Leckie); and
Anthony Center (formerly the Anthony Correctional Center);
The Denmar Correctional Center, (formerly known as the
Denmar State Hospital facility); and
The Northern Correctional Center at Moundsville.
Jurisdiction of and title to the West Virginia Children's
Home at Elkins are hereby transferred to the department of health
and human resources, which shall be the custodian of all deeds
and other muniments of title to such the property and shall cause
such as are susceptible of recordation to be recorded in the
proper offices. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to
the contrary, the West Virginia Children's Home shall be managed
and controlled by a superintendent appointed by the commissioner
secretary of the department of health and human resources.
The commissioner of corrections is hereby authorized to
establish work and study release units as extensions and
subsidiaries of those state institutions under his or her control
and authority. Such These work and study release units may be
coeducational and shall be managed, directed and controlled as
provided for in this article.
The commissioner of corrections is hereby authorized to
serve as a member of the commission for distribution of surplus
foods and exercise all powers and authority otherwise granted to
him or her in this article to implement the pilot program for
delivery of leftover prepared foods at any institution under his
or her control and supervision, pursuant to section seventeen,
article two, chapter eighteen of this code.
Any person employed by the office of public institutions who
on the effective date of this article is a classified civil
service employee shall, within the limits contained in section
two, article six, chapter twenty-nine of this code, remain in the
civil service system as a covered employee.
CHAPTER 28. STATE CORRECTIONAL AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS.
ARTICLE 5. THE PENITENTIARY.
§28-5-1. Continuation; management; property.
The West Virginia Penitentiary heretofore established and
located in Marshall County and which is no longer used as a state
correctional facility shall be continued, and shall be managed,
directed and controlled as provided in article one, chapter
twenty-five, of this code. remain under the jurisdiction of the commissioner of corrections: Provided, That, the property,
fixtures and appurtenances comprising that facility, including,
but not limited to, the former warden's residence, shall be
maintained and kept secure from trespass or vandalism by the
commissioner of corrections until the Legislature authorizes the
facility's reopening as a correctional facility or its sale or
its transfer to another state, county or municipal agency:
Provided, however, That on or before the first day of December,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, the commissioner of
corrections shall report to the Legislature his or her
conclusions as to the future use of the facility. The lot of
ground situated near Moundsville in said county of Marshall,
containing about ten acres, heretofore selected by the board of
public works as a site for the penitentiary, under an act of the
Legislature passed the nineteenth day of February nineteenth,
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the lot of ground containing
about four and one-half acres adjoining the lot above-mentioned
conveyed to this state by deed dated the nineteenth day of July,
eighteen hundred and ninety-two, also one lot of ground situated on the waters of Tom's Run, in Marshall County, containing ten
acres, and conveyed to this state by deed dated the fifteenth day
of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, also a tract of
land of about sixty-three acres, situated on Grave Creek, in
Marshall County, and conveyed to this state by deed dated the
sixteenth day of December, nineteen hundred and one, shall be and
remain the property of the state for the use of the state, but
only as a penitentiary correctional facility, in accordance with
this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the old
penitentiary at Moundsville remain under the jurisdiction of the
Commissioner of Corrections, provided that he maintain it and
keep it secure until authorized by the Legislature to sell, lease
or transfer it and that he report to the Legislature on or before
December 1, 1996, as to the future use of the facility. It also
updates certain terms.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.