H. B. 4558
(By Delegates Givens, Douglas, Fleischauer,
Mezzatesta, Staton, Facemyer and Trump)
[Introduced February 25, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to repeal chapter one hundred eighty-five of the Acts of
the West Virginia Legislature, one thousand nine hundred
fifty-five; and to amend and reenact section four, article
five-e, chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to the Kanawha Home for Children; transferring all
responsibility for same to the division of juvenile services
within the department of military affairs and public safety;
authorizing the division of juvenile services to enter into
a lease agreement with the county commission of the county
of Kanawha for same; providing for same to be operated,
managed and maintained as a secure predispositional
detention facility for certain juveniles under the control
of the division of juvenile services; and providing for an
effective date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter one hundred eighty-five of the Acts of the West
Virginia Legislature, one thousand nine hundred fifty-five, be
repealed; and that section four, article five-e, chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5E. DIVISION OF JUVENILE SERVICES.
§49-5E-4. Transfer of Kanawha home for children to the division of juvenile services.
(a) "Kanawha home for children" means the county home for
the detention of juvenile delinquents or children charged with
delinquency as established by the county commission of Kanawha
County pursuant to the provisions of a local bill, House Bill No.
141, enacted by the Legislature on the fourteenth day of
February, one thousand nine hundred fifty-five, as set forth in
the Acts of the West Virginia Legislature, Regular Session, 1955,
ch. 185.
(b) After the effective date of the amendment to this
section, enacted during the regular session of the Legislature,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, the division of juvenile
services shall assume all fiscal responsibility for funding,
operating, maintaining, administering and managing the Kanawha
home for children. To this end, the director of the division of
juvenile services is authorized to enter into a lease agreement
with the county commission of the county of Kanawha, for the
premises and all improvements, appurtenances, equipment and
furnishings thereon constituting the Kanawha home for children,
and to operate, manage and maintain the facility as one of the
several centers under the supervision and control of the division
of juvenile services providing secure predispositional detention of juveniles, including juveniles who have been transferred to
adult criminal jurisdiction under section ten, article five of
this chapter and juveniles who are awaiting transfer to a
juvenile corrections facility.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to repeal the local act
which authorized the county court of Kanawha County to create a
board of supervisors to establish, improve, equip, develop,
operate, maintain, administer and manage a county home for the
detention of juvenile delinquents or children charged with
delinquency. It would transfer those responsibilities to the
Division of Juvenile Services, whose director would be authorized
to enter into a lease agreement with the Kanawha County
Commission for the premises and all improvements, appurtenances,
equipment, furnishings, etc. at the present Kanawha Home for
Children in Dunbar, which would then become one of the Division's
centers providing secure detention for juveniles who have been
accused of delinquency and who are awaiting adjudication,
disposition or transfer.
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 in the 1998 regular
legislative session by the Legislative Task Force on Juvenile
Foster Care, Detention and Placement.