H. B. 4036
(By Delegates Rowe, Dalton, Johnson,
Staton, Tillis and Faircloth)
[Introduced January 20, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article one, chapter fifty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
section nineteen, relating to authorizing the supreme court
of appeals to promulgate rules to establish and administer
a uniform bail schedule for certain misdemeanor offenses;
allowing supreme court of appeals or the county commission
to designate persons to administer the schedule; providing
that persons administering the schedule shall be bonded;
and excluding certain misdemeanor offenses from eligibility
for inclusion in the uniform bail schedule.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter fifty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nineteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
51-1-19.Uniform Interim Bail Schedules.
(a) The supreme court of appeals shall promulgate rules,
pursuant to the provisions of section four of this article,
establishing and implementing a uniform interim bail schedule
for all misdemeanor offenses not excluded in subsection (c) of
this section. The interim bail schedule shall be used only when
a magistrate is unavailable to set bail for the offense charged.
All persons who utilize the uniform interim bail schedule to
post bond and obtain release must appear before a magistrate in
the county on the next available court business day. The
magistrate will not be required to follow the bail schedule for
any subsequent bond or release decision, and shall set and admit
bail as provided for in section three, article two, chapter
fifty of this code. Failure of the person released to present
him or herself to a designated county magistrate the following
court business day will result in forfeiture of the posted bond
in addition to any other penalties prescribed by law.
(b) The chief circuit judge of each county shall appoint
a person or persons or request that the county commission
appoint a county employee or employees to serve as interim bond
schedule administrator. Any county or court employee or
employees may be designated to receive bail schedule payments,
excluding the county sheriff or any law enforcement officer.
Every interim bond schedule administrator shall give bond with
good security, in an amount fixed by the supreme court of
appeals, consistent with bonding requirements of other county officials as provided in article two, chapter six of this code.
(c) The following misdemeanor offenses are not eligible to
be included in the interim bail schedule: involuntary
manslaughter as provided in section five, article two, chapter
sixty-one of this code; stalking as provided in section nine-a,
article two, chapter sixty-one of this code; assault or battery
against a police officer as provided in section ten-b, article
two, chapter sixty-one of this code; unlawful shooting at
another in public as provided in section eleven, article two,
chapter sixty-one of this code; and domestic violence as
provided in section twenty-eight, article two, chapter sixty-one
of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the West Virginia
Supreme Court to establish a uniform bail schedule, which will
allow persons charged with non-violent misdemeanors to be
released by posting bail when a magistrate is unavailable.