Senate Bill No. 240
(By Senators Craigo, Chafin, Walker, Bailey, Plymale, Prezioso,
Snyder, Dittmar, Ross, Schoonover, Sprouse, McKenzie, Sharpe,
Buckalew, Love, Scott, Dugan, White, Helmick, Fanning, Jackson,
Kessler, Minear, Kimble and Tomblin, Mr. President )
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[Introduced January 29, 1998; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, six, seven, nine, ten
and twenty-six, article twenty, chapter thirty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended; and to further amend said article by adding
thereto a new section, designated section five-c, all
relating to building juvenile detention facilities adjacent
to regional jails; definitions; plan and report by regional
jail and prison authority; sharing of certain services and
staff; and appropriations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, six, seven, nine, ten and twenty-six, article twenty, chapter thirty-one of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated section five-c, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY AUTHORITY.
§31-20-2. Definitions.
Unless the context indicates clearly otherwise, as used in
this article:
(a) "Authority" or "West Virginia Regional Jail Authority"
means the West Virginia regional jail and correctional facility
authority created by this article.
(b) "Board" means the governing body of the authority.
(c) "Bonds" means bonds of the authority issued under this
article.
(d) "Cost of construction or renovation of a local jail
facility or regional jail facility or regional juvenile detention
facility" means the cost of all lands, water areas, property
rights and easements, financing charges, interest prior to and
during construction and for a period not exceeding six months
following the completion of construction, equipment, engineering
and legal services, plans, specifications and surveys, estimates of costs and other expenses necessary or incidental to
determining the feasibility or practicability of any such
project, together with such any other expenses as may be
necessary or incidental to the financing and the construction or
renovation of such the facilities and the placing of same the
facilities in operation.
(e) "County" means any county of this state.
(f) "Federal agency" means the United States of America and
any department, corporation, agency or instrumentality created,
designated or established by the United States of America.
(g) "Fund" means the regional jail and correctional facility
development fund provided created in section ten of this article.
(h) "Government" means state and federal government, and any
political subdivision, agency or instrumentality of the state or
federal government, thereof corporate or otherwise.
(i) "Inmate" means any person properly committed to a local
or regional jail facility or a correctional facility.
(j) "Juvenile detention facility" means a facility
constructed or maintained adjacent to a regional jail for the
confinement, custody, supervision or control of juveniles
convicted as juvenile offenders or awaiting trial or awaiting
transportation to another detention or correctional facility.
(j) (k) "Local jail facility" means any county facility for
the confinement, custody, supervision or control of persons convicted of misdemeanors, awaiting trial or awaiting
transportation to a state correctional facility.
(k) (l) "Municipality" means any city, town or village in
this state.
(l) (m) "Notes" means any notes as defined in section one
hundred four, article three, chapter forty-six of this code
issued under this article by the authority.
(m) (n) "Correctional facility" means any correctional
facility, penitentiary, detention center or other correctional
institution operated by the department division of corrections.
(n) (o) "Regional jail facility" or "regional jail" means
any facility operated by the authority and used jointly by two or
more counties for the confinement, custody, supervision or
control of persons convicted of misdemeanors or awaiting trial or
awaiting transportation to a state correctional facility.
(o) (p) "Regional jail commission" means the commission
established in section eight of this article.
(p) (q) "Revenues" means all fees, charges, moneys, profits,
payments of principal of, or interest on, loans and other
investments, grants, contributions and all other income received
by the authority.
(q) (r) "Security interest" means an interest in the loan
portfolio of the authority which interest is secured by an
underlying loan or loans and is evidenced by a note issued by the authority.
(r) (s) "Work farm" shall have has the same meaning as that
term is used in section twelve, article eight, chapter seven of
this code authorizing work farms for individual counties.
§31-20-5c. Additional powers and duties of the authority;
juvenile detention facilities.
(a) The regional jail and correctional facility authority
shall complete a comprehensive study of all juvenile detention
facilities in the state of West Virginia no later than the first
day of October, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. During
the conduct of this study, all state agencies shall provide the
authority with any and all relevant information and materials, as
requested by the authority. This study shall include an
assessment of the physical conditions of confinement within the
existing juvenile detention facilities and the relative need for
the detention facilities when considering other available
institutions of confinement for juveniles located within the
state.
(b) After completing this study, the authority shall submit
a plan to the governor on the establishment of regional juvenile
detention facilities adjacent to regional jails in this state.
(c) The authority shall consider, but not be limited to, the
following when creating the regional juvenile detention
facilities plan:
(1) All federal statutes and mandates concerning the
location, construction, operation, administration and staffing of
juvenile detention facilities;
(2) The relative physical condition of the juvenile
detention facilities located within the state;
(3) The transportation costs associated with the
establishment of centralized juvenile detention facilities,
including, but not limited to, the costs of transporting
juveniles incarcerated in regional juvenile detention facilities
to court appearances, to interviews with their attorneys and to
visitation with their families and friends, all in any county
seat of a county served by the regional juvenile detention
facility: Provided, That consideration of costs in the creation
of the plan may not be construed to require the transportation of
juveniles to interviews with their attorneys or to visit with
their families and friends when visitation facilities and
schedules are established in regional juvenile detention
facilities;
(4) The availability of medical services and educational and
recreational opportunities;
(5) Information received from public hearings;
(6) The relative efficiency in the cost of detention
services caused by establishment of regional juvenile detention
facilities adjacent to existing regional jail facilities, including moneys saved by the sharing of certain staff and
services, including food services, all to the extent permissible
by federal law and federal guidelines;
(7) Available facilities adjacent to existing regional jails
which may be used as regional juvenile detention facilities
including, but not limited to, existing county and state owned
properties: Provided, That if the authority determines that an
existing facility meets the standards, including all federal
standards, or could reasonably be made to meet the standards, for
a regional juvenile detention facility, the authority may proceed
to acquire the existing facility and compensate the owner of the
existing facility in an amount not less than any local share
expended by the owner as matching moneys for the receipt of
federal funds: Provided, however, That if the authority
determines that an existing facility does not meet the standards
or could not reasonably be made to meet the standards for a
regional juvenile detention facility, the authority shall provide
the owner with a written statement setting forth the reasons
supporting the determination; and
(8) The leasing of any available portion of any regional
jail space and the leasing of available facilities of any
regional jail to the West Virginia division of juvenile services
for the keeping and detaining of juvenile offenders sentenced to
serve terms of incarceration under the custody of the West Virginia division of juvenile services and contracting with the
division of juvenile services for the providing of food,
clothing, shelter and any and all incidental costs in the care,
control and maintenance of the juveniles: Provided, That the
leasing does not restrict space or facilities needed for the
detention of county prisoners, and that all federal standards and
guidelines are met concerning the incarceration of juveniles.
(d) Before beginning construction of a new facility for use
as a regional juvenile detention facility or before beginning
renovation or acquisition of an existing facility for use as a
regional juvenile detention facility, where the existing facility
is not already a jail, correctional facility or secure facility
for the detention of juveniles or persons otherwise involuntarily
committed or confined, the authority shall hold a hearing for
comment by all members of the public on all aspects relating to
the advisability of the use of the site for that regional jail
facility. The authority shall propose legislative rules for
promulgation pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code for the requirements for notice and other procedures of
these public hearings. The requirements shall be as similar as
practicable to those hearings conducted regarding the
construction of bridges by the West Virginia division of
highways.
(e) The authority, as a public corporation and governmental instrumentality exercising public powers of the state, may
exercise all powers necessary or appropriate to carry out the
purposes of this section, including, but not limited to, the
powers enumerated in section five of this article.
(f) The authority shall assume the responsibility for
operation and management of regional juvenile detention
facilities under the jurisdiction of the state regional jail and
correctional facility authority. The authority shall provide for
the transportation of juveniles between the regional juvenile
detention facilities and local holding facilities for court
appearances.
§31-20-6. Regional jail commissions; composition; appointment;
terms; compensation and expenses.
Upon the formation of specific regions by the regional jail
and correctional facility authority for the establishment of
regional jails and adjacent regional juvenile detention
facilities as provided in section five and section five-c of this
article, there shall be created in each region a regional jail
commission composed of the following members: The sheriff from
each county in the region or his or her designated
representative; a member of the county commission from each
county in the region chosen by the commission or a designated
representative; one mayor from each county in the region to be
appointed by the regional jail and correctional facility authority from a list of names submitted by the West Virginia
municipal league, or his or her designated representative; and
three persons from the region who are representative of the areas
of law, medicine and education to be appointed by the regional
jail and correctional facility authority and who shall serve for
a term of three years: Provided, That any local regional jail
authority or commission established prior to the effective date
of this article shall be recognized as meeting the requirements
of this section, at the option of the local regional jail
authority or commission.
Any appointed member whose term has expired shall serve
until his or her successor has been duly appointed and qualified.
Any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the
unexpired term. Any appointed member is eligible for
reappointment. Members of the commission are not entitled to
compensation for services performed as members but are entitled
to reimbursement for all reasonable and necessary expenses
actually incurred in the performance of their duties. The county
commission from each county in the region shall provide the
commission with secretarial and other necessary services.
§31-20-7. General powers of the commission.
Each regional jail commission shall prepare and submit such
plans, suggestions and recommendations to the regional jail and
correctional facility authority which will define the needs for its region as to the construction, renovation and general
operation of a regional jail facility and adjacent regional
juvenile detention facility. The report may include, but is not
limited to, recommendations for conforming its jail facility to
the jail standards promulgated by the jail and correctional
facility standards commission, upgrading the recreational and
educational opportunities for inmates confined in the region's
jail facility and for juveniles detained in regional juvenile
detention facilities, development of programs in cooperation with
community medical and mental health centers in the region to
provide adequate medical and drug and alcohol addiction services
within the facility and information concerning the costs incurred
in the operation of the facility.
§31-20-9. Purpose, powers and duties.
(a) The purpose of the commission is to assure that proper
minimum standards and procedures are developed for jail, work
farm, juvenile detention facility and correctional facility
operation, maintenance and management of inmates for correctional
facilities, regional jails, juvenile detention facilities and
local jail facilities used as temporary holding facilities. In
order to accomplish this purpose, the commission shall:
(1) Prescribe standards for the maintenance and operation of
correctional facilities, juvenile detention facilities and county
and regional jails. The standards shall include, but not be limited to, requirements assuring adequate space, lighting and
ventilation; fire protection equipment and procedures; provision
of specific personal hygiene articles; bedding, furnishings and
clothing; food services; appropriate staffing and training;
sanitation, safety and hygiene; isolation and suicide prevention;
appropriate medical, dental and other health services; indoor and
outdoor exercise; appropriate vocational and educational
opportunities; classification; separation of juvenile and adult
inmate populations; compliance with all federal standards for
juvenile detention facilities; inmate rules and discipline;
inmate money and property; religious services; inmate work
programs; library services; visitation, mail and telephone
privileges; and other standards necessary to assure proper
operation: Provided, That the standards as developed for the
construction, operation and maintenance of jails shall only apply
to facilities completed after the fifth day of April, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, and that the standards shall
serve only as guidelines for any jail facility in operation prior
to that date: Provided, however, That the commission shall
establish standards and procedures permitting and implementing in
such those facilities the double bunking of inmates in all
appropriate cases to the extent that such a this practice does
not violate federal law: Provided further, That no facility
maintained and operated pursuant to this article may house together or mix or commingle adult and juvenile inmate
populations;
(2) Promulgate the rules pursuant Propose legislative rules
for promulgation pursuant to the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code as are necessary to implement
the provisions of this article, including, without limitation,
minimum jail, work farm, juvenile detention facility and
correctional facility standards which shall be promulgated
proposed for promulgation on or before the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred eighty-six ninety-nine;
(3) Develop a process for reviewing and updating the jail,
work farm, juvenile detention facility and correctional facility
standards pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code as may be necessary to assure that
they conform to current law; and
(4) Report periodically to the authority to advise and
recommend actions to be taken by the authority to implement
proper minimum jail, work farm, juvenile detention facility and
correctional facility standards.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, any county commission providing and maintaining a jail
on the effective date of this article shall may not be required
to provide and maintain a jail after a regional jail becomes
available pursuant to the provisions of article twenty, chapter thirty-one of this code, unless the county commission determines
that such a facility is necessary: Provided, That the county
commission may provide and maintain a holding facility which
complies with the standards set forth for such holding facilities
in legislative rules promulgated by the jail and correctional
facility standards commission or its predecessor, the jail and
prison standards commission.
§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 to the fund 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 the excess be invested until
needed. In such this case such the 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 any action as that is necessary
to release such the excess and transfer it to the general revenue
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 and adjacent regional juvenile detention
facilities 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 the
amounts as that 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 the amounts
as that are necessary for the maintenance and operation of the
correctional facilities, or regional jails or adjacent regional
juvenile detention facilities or all three both that are
constructed pursuant to the plan required by this article and
shall expend such the amounts for such the 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 or adjacent regional juvenile detention 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 or adjacent regional
juvenile detention facility becomes available pursuant to this
article for the incarceration of inmates, each county within the
region shall incarcerate all persons, including juveniles, whom
the county would have incarcerated in any jail or detention facility prior to the availability of the regional jail facility
or adjacent regional juvenile detention facility in the regional
jail facility or adjacent regional juvenile detention facility,
as the case may be, 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 in a local jail
facility.
(h) When inmates are placed in a regional jail facility or
adjacent regional juvenile detention 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 inmate to be determined
by the regional jail and correctional facility authority
according to criteria and by procedures established by
regulations legislative rules pursuant to article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to cover the costs of operating the
regional jail facilities and adjacent regional juvenile detention
facilities of this state to maintain each such inmate. which The
costs shall may not include the cost of construction, acquisition
or renovation of said the regional jail facilities or adjacent
regional juvenile detention facilities: Provided, That each
regional jail facility and adjacent regional juvenile detention 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.
(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 X 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 this 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 adjacent regional juvenile detention facilities
and the dedication of the consumers sales tax pursuant to said
that section to finance such the construction and improvement are
for the use and benefit of the state, its counties, its
municipalities and its other political subdivisions, and such the
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 that 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 including adjacent regional juvenile
detention 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 that article to
comply with the provisions of section four, article ten X;
section six, article ten X; section six-a, article ten X; and
section one, article twelve XII of the constitution of West
Virginia.
§31-20-26. Legislative oversight committee.
The president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Delegates shall each designate five members of their respective
houses, at least one of whom shall be a member of the minority
party, to serve on a legislative oversight committee charged with
immediate and ongoing oversight of the authority and the
commissions, and functions and duties thereof of the authority
and the commissions created by this article. This committee
shall report regularly at each legislative session on the
implementation of the purposes set forth in section one-a of this
article. It shall regularly investigate all matters relating to
integrity, probity and foresight in funding, operating and
planning the correctional system on state, regional and county levels, including the funding, operating and planning of adjacent
juvenile detention facilities to the regional jail facilities.
Specifically, the committee shall study and make recommendations
to the Legislature as to the revision of the system of
classifying inmates, with a view variously to decreasing the
prison population confined in "maximum security" facilities and
to designating and meeting the needs of inmates classified as
juvenile offenders, elderly, disabled or otherwise handicapped.
The committee shall further study and inform the state
judiciary of the impact of sentencing on the composition of the
prison population in proportion to the use of facilities. It
shall recommend alternatives to long-term sentencing, and shall
recommend measures to improve the quality of correctional staff
and facilitate its nonconfrontational contacts with inmates. The
committee shall investigate means to structure inmates' time to
ensure genuine and willing reaccommodations to societal norms;
shall probe and coordinate all available means for funding state,
regional and county correctional facilities; and shall contract
with penal experts to study these issues in appropriate depth and
perspective. Annually, to predict a prudent use of available
funds, the committee shall study the profile of the inmate
population with regard to its age and social background and
needs.
The committee shall recommend to the Legislature the funding required to execute such these functions. It shall meet
regularly with the governing body of the authority established in
this article to determine what may be required for full and
timely compliance with all court-ordered changes in the
correctional system and shall recommend funding for such the
changes.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish authority
for the creation of juvenile detention facilities adjacent to
existing or newly-constructed regional jails. The bill requires
a study and plan of adjacent juvenile detention facilities by the
West Virginia regional jail and prison authority, giving that
entity the same powers and duties regarding juvenile detention
facilities as it now exercises over regional jails. The bill
mandates that any juvenile detention facilities meet all federal
standards.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§31-20-5c is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring are omitted.