Senate Bill No. 400

(By Senators Love and Schoonover)

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[Introduced February 5, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciay.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article eight, chapter sixty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to crimes and proceedings against inmates; offenses by inmates; creating new felony offenses for killing, wounding or injuring any correctional officer, nonuniformed correctional employee, visitor or volunteer at any correctional facility, or conspiring to do same; updating obsolete references; and making minor technical changes.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article eight, chapter sixty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. CRIMES BY AND PROCEEDINGS AGAINST CONVICTS.

ยง62-8-1. Offenses by inmates; conspiracy.

A person imprisoned or otherwise in the custody of the commissioner of corrections is guilty of a felony if he or she shall kill, wound or inflict kills, wounds or inflicts other bodily injury upon an officer or guard of the penitentiary or medium security prison any correctional officer, nonuniformed employee, visitor or volunteer at any correctional facility; or shall break, cut or injure breaks, cuts or injures any building, fixture or fastening of the penitentiary or medium security prison any correctional facility, or any part thereof, for the purpose of escaping or aiding any other convict inmate to escape therefrom, or rendering renders the penitentiary or medium security prison any correctional facility less secure as a place of confinement; or shall make, procure, secrete, or have in his makes, procures, secretes or has in his or her possession, any instrument, tool or other thing for such purpose, or with intent to kill, wound or inflict bodily injury as aforesaid; or shall resist resists the lawful authority of an officer or guard of the penitentiary or medium security prison any correctional facility for such purpose or with such intent. Any three or more convicts inmates so confined, or in such custody, who shall conspire together to commit any offense mentioned in this section shall each be deemed are each guilty of a felony.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to protect employees, contractors and visitors at correctional facilities.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.