ENROLLED

H. B. 2698


(By Delegates Ashley and Staton)

[Passed March 14, 1998; in effect ninety days from passage.]





AN ACT to amend and reenact section ten, article five, chapter twenty-five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to private prisons and removing the former Spencer state hospital as a potential site for a private prison facility.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article five, chapter twenty-five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. PRIVATE PRISONS.
§25-5-10. Site selection.

The regional jail authority shall approve the site for the proposed facility. Approval shall be in accordance with legislative rules promulgated in accordance with chapter twenty- nine-a of this code. One such legislative rule shall establish criteria for identifying and evaluating potential sites for private prisons and shall provide for a public hearing or hearings to allow reasonable participation in the selection process by the citizens of the area to be affected by the construction and operation of a private prison.